


Sour Sweet

by Titch360



Series: My Version of Events [54]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-05-07 08:17:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14667060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Titch360/pseuds/Titch360
Summary: It's Robin's 16th birthday.  How will everyone react to the secret she's been keeping for months?(Rated Mature for sexual dialog and situations involving teens)





	Sour Sweet

Sour Sweet

 

Damian looked around as he settled himself into his first-class seat on Alaska Airlines flight 975, nonstop service from Gotham City International Airport to Fairbanks, Alaska.  It wasn’t the nicest plane he had ever been in, it wasn’t even the nicest commercial plane he had flown, but that didn’t matter right now.  Damian wasn’t worried about the journey, but the destination.

 _I can’t wait for this weekend.  This will be the third time I’ve been allowed to see Robin in person in three months.  I should do something nice for Father when I get home._ Damian smirked internally as he thought, _maybe he’d like a grandchild, after all._

Damian waved the flight attendant over, a woman in her early twenties.  “I’m sorry, Mr. Wayne, but we aren’t serving food or drinks yet.  We’ll start serving after we take off.”

Damian gave a pleasant smile, “Thank you, but I wasn’t going to ask about that.  Not yet, at least.  Can you tell me if a certain passenger is on this flight?”

The flight attendant looked at Damian weirdly, “That’s not usually standard procedure, Mr. Wayne.”

Damian bristled on the inside.  _I don’t like the way she says Mr. Wayne.  Was she expecting Father when she saw the flight manifest?_   Damian added a little warmth to his smile, “Please?  I think we’re going to the same place.  Gina Abbey?”

The flight attendant could tell that her reaction to the name was caught by the teen, so she said, “Yes, she’s onboard.  How did you know?”

“This is the only flight going from Gotham to Fairbanks today.  Do you think you could let her sit up here?”

The young woman shook her head gently, “I’m afraid there are no open seats on the plane, Mr. Wayne.”

Damian pointed to the empty seat next to him, “How about this one?”

“Sold.”

Damian reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two tickets.  Looking at the seat assignments, he handed the ticket for the empty seat to the flight attendant.  “Tell her there’s a problem with her reservation, and her seat was double booked, but she’s being upgraded.  Then, you can fill her seat with someone from the stand-by list.  Please?”

The stunned flight attendant looked back and forth between the ticket and Damian, “You know, I saw Miss Abbey when she came onboard.  Don’t you think she’s a bit old for you?”

Damian rolled his eyes, “It’s not what you think.”

Charmed by the teen’s smile, and intrigued by what Damian had planned, the flight attendant walked into coach.  Four minutes later, she came back and said, “Here is your new seat, Miss Abbey.  Please fasten your seatbelt; we will be taking off shortly.”

Gina was trying to look everywhere at once.  “Wow.  I’ve never been in first class before.  I hope you don’t mind that they stuck me next to you…Damian!”

Damian’s smile grew as the young woman leaned over and hugged him, “I wondered how long it would take you to notice who you’re sitting next to.”

Gina eyed the teen, “Whose seat am I really in?”

“Yours,” Damian said.  “Father bought me two, so I didn’t have to sit next to anyone.  I figured you’d be on this plane, though.”

Gina looked the teen up and down, “I hardly recognized you, Damian.”

Damian shrugged, “It’s been almost a year since we’ve seen each other.  You should come by every now and then.  I know Tim would like that.  Have you seen him lately?”

Gina nodded, “Yeah, we had lunch last week.  He said your family were having trouble keeping you in line.  Said you were bouncing off the walls.”

Damian gave a smile, “Why shouldn’t I be excited?  Our parents have said yes every time Robin and I have wanted to get together this year.  It seems they finally approve of us as a serious couple.”

Gina smiled and leaned closer, “They always approved.  They just didn’t want you two to rush into anything you weren’t ready for.”

Gina sneezed loudly, and Damian flinched away from the woman.  “How long have you been sick?”

Gina blew her nose before saying, “Almost a week.  I’m getting over it now.  It was really bad a couple days ago.”

“Would have been nice to know that before you hugged me.”  Damian smirked, “Maybe you should go back to coach and infect them.”

Gina rolled her eyes, “I’m not infectious.  Are you telling me that a big, tough guy like you can’t fight off a few little germs?”

The smirk turned into a smile, “I don’t know.  You know I have a weakness for the Abbey women.”

“You calling me a germ?”

Damian shook his head, “No, but they came from you, Miss Abbey, and that name works its way right through me.”

After several hours of flight, and after Gina woke up from a nap, Damian leaned over and spoke quietly to his girlfriend’s sister.

“Hey, have you talked to Robin lately?”

Gina nodded, “Yeah, I texted her just before I got on the plane, to let her know I’m on my way.”

Damian shook his head, “No, I mean actually _talk_ to her.”

“Oh,” Gina had to think for a second, “It’s been a couple weeks.  We mostly just text each other.  Why do you ask?”

Damian spoke softly, “I wanted to know if you knew of anything being wrong.”

“What do you mean,” Gina asked, trepidation entering her voice.

Damian sighed, “After our anniversary…I don’t know.  Things started to change.  She stopped wanting to Skype with me.  We still talk, but her tone has changed.  Our calls are much shorter, and she is using text more.  I don’t know what’s going on.  Has she said anything to you?”

Gina’s eyes were wide, “No, she hasn’t said anything to me.  To be honest, when we do talk, you don’t normally come up as a topic of conversation.  Now that I think about it, though, Mom mentioned she was worried about Robin a couple weeks ago.”

Damian leaned closer, “What about?”

“She said Robin seemed withdrawn.  She started spending more time in her room, and hasn’t really been talking to Mom and Dad.  Mom thought that you two might be having problems.”

Damian tried to keep the shocked expression off of his face, “I didn’t think we were, but it’s been getting worse.  I don’t know if she’s mad at me, or if she’s done with me and wants to move on.  I’ve been too scared to ask.”

Gina felt compassion for the obviously confused and shaken teen sitting next to her, “Why don’t you call her?  It’s still a couple hours until we land.  Maybe you two can get this all cleared up before you see her.”

Damian shook his head, “No.  We’ll see her soon enough.  If she…if she really is…wanting to end things with me, I want these last couple hours where I can pretend nothing is wrong.”

Gina sighed as Damian turned to look out of the window.  She gently grasped his hand in support.  Damian looked down at their hands, then up at Gina.  He took a deep breath and nodded with a small smile at the woman.  Gina returned the smile softly.

_A Couple Hours Later…_

Their flight made a fairly rough landing, but they arrived safely at their destination.  Damian sent a quick text to his father, to let him know he’d arrived, and followed Gina to the baggage carrousel.  Alfred’s etiquette training took over, and Damian grabbed both of their suitcases before they headed to find their ride.

Approaching the pair at a rapid pace were Mike and Robin Abbey.  Gina rushed to her sister and enveloped her in a tight hug, which was good, because Damian had been stunned nearly senseless.

_What the hell happened?  It’s been six weeks since I’ve seen Robin.  How can she have changed so much?  She’s as beautiful as ever, but she must have lost twenty pounds.  Robin didn’t have twenty pounds to lose.  This isn’t right.  What the hell happened?_

Damian’s attention shifted to Mike, as he approached the teen.  The man spoke, “Hello, Damian.  Good to see you.”

Damian set the suitcases down and accepted the short hug from the man, “Hello, Mr. Abbey.  Thanks for allowing me to come out this weekend.  Um, what happened?”

“What do you mean,” Mike asked.

Damian spoke softly, “Robin.  She’s pale, and she looks like she lost a lot of weight.  She isn’t sick, is she?”

Mike looked acutely distressed, “You noticed, huh?  The truth is, I don’t know.  She hasn’t been sick.  She hasn’t really been talking to us, either.  Frankly, we’re worried.”

Damian took a step back and looked up at the man’s face, “I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

Damian turned, and was set upon by his smiling, blonde girlfriend.  Thoughts of her condition fled as her lips met his.  She moved back after several seconds, just a millimeter, to whisper to Damian.  Their lips still brushed gently as she said softly, “I said hi to Gina, you talked to Dad, now we can be together until Mom gets home from work tonight.”

“Best offer I’ve had in weeks,” Damian replied softly.

Mike had already grabbed the suitcases, so all Damian had to do was wrap an arm around Robin’s shoulder and walk to the car.

The couple spent the ride to the Abbey house joined at the lip.  Mike suspected that would be the case, since he had allowed Robin to skip school to pick up the travelers from the airport.  Upon reaching the house, Mike had not-so-secretly taken Gina with him to pick up Lisa from work.  He made sure Robin and Damian knew exactly what time they would be walking in the door again, and left the teenagers to their own devices.

Once in Robin’s room, the girl was voracious, but the boy remembered his promise to her father.  As much as he tried to slow Robin down, they were both teenagers, who had been given a green light to fool around.  Damian was intent on having a serious conversation with Robin, but she worked her hands under his shirt, and he became a teenager again.

Their tongues danced as Robin unbuttoned Damian’s shirt and tossed it to the floor.  Damian stepped out of his shoes as her finger ran lightly over his newly scarred shoulder.  Damian dropped his pants as the back of his knees made contact with the edge of the bed.  The boy sank down to the mattress, and the girl followed.   Her pants made their way to the floor as Damian was adjusting his position on the bed.  Robin sat on Damian’s waist and pulled her shirt off, and Damian’s need to have a serious conversation with his girlfriend returned to his mind full-force.

“Wait,” Damian said, almost breathlessly.

Robin was reaching for his boxers as she said, “It’s okay.  I have condoms.”

“Robin, stop,” Damian said insistently.

The girl froze, giving Damian a strange look, “Why?”

“We need to talk.”

Robin looked down at Damian incredulously, “You choose _this_ moment to come up with that?”

Damian took a deep breath, “Believe me, this isn’t easy, but something’s going on.  Something’s wrong, and you need to tell me what it is.”

Robin looked distinctly nervous, but said, “There’s nothing going on.”

“And, that’s the story you want to stick with?”

Robin flinched at Damian’s tone of voice, and Damian knew he was starting to go a bit too far.

“Why do you think there’s something going on,” Robin asked.

Damian reached out and gently laid a hand on Robin’s side, halfway between her bra and panties.  Two of his fingers rested on her rib cage, while the other two were under it, and almost an inch closer to the center of her body.

Robin couldn’t meet Damian’s eyes as he said softly, “You’ve never been this skinny before.  I’ve never been able to feel your ribs this much.  Your stomach looks like someone hollowed you out.  You’re pale, almost sickly pale.  What’s going on?  Have you been sick?  What happened?”

Robin remained quiet for another minute, and Damian could tell that she was trying to craft an answer to his questions.  “Can’t we just…ignore that,” Robin said softly.

Damian’s eyes widened, “You want to ignore the fact that, if I held you up to the light, I’d be able to see through you?”

Robin moved her hips slightly on his, “For now, I do.  Your body is on my side in this.  I can feel it.”

“My mind is, too, but you have me scared, Robin.  I’ve never seen you looking like this.”  Damian sighed, “Your parents are worried, too.  At least, your Dad is.”

Robin still hesitated, so Damian pulled out his ace, “We promised we would never lie to each other.  You’ve changed since the last time I saw you, and I’m not the only one to notice.  Tell me what happened, Robin.”

The true concern and gentleness in Damian’s voice finally broke through Robin’s defenses.  She slid off to the side of the bed and sat on the edge.  “Shit.  Please don’t hate me, not on my birthday.”

Damian turned and sat at Robin’s side.  He gently draped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side, “Not on your birthday, or any other day of the year.”

Robin sighed and leaned over to rest her head on Damian’s shoulder, “This isn’t easy.”

“I suspect not,” Damian said, “But, I’m here for you.”

Robin spoke softly after another minute of silence, “It started after our anniversary weekend.  Remember that picture we took?  Well, I posted it to my Facebook before I left to come home.”

“I remember,” Damian said, “You posted it from my laptop just before Father and I took you to the airport.”

“It wasn’t exactly the best picture of me, but I still liked it.”

“Liked it?  As in, past tense,” Damian asked, concerned.

“Yes,” Robin said, then sighed, “Damian, we’ve been found out.”

Damian looked confused, “What does that mean?”

Robin got up and walked to her computer, “By the time I got off the plane here, that picture had gone viral in Gotham.  Someone copied it from my page and sent it to GMZ.”

Robin brought up a celebrity news article and showed it to Damian.  He read the headline out loud, “Little Wayne’s Little Woman Revealed.”  Damian looked up at Robin, “Little Wayne?  What am I, a rapper, now?”

“Keep reading,” Robin said.

Damian turned back to the article, “The long-suspected rumor can now be confirmed as fact.  Damian Wayne, youngest son of local billionaire and businessman Bruce Wayne, has a secret girlfriend.  It is unknown how long the pair have been dating, but it is long enough for this exclusive pic of the pair to have been captioned ‘Happy Anniversary, my love.’  The girl in question has been identified as Robin Abbey, daughter of former Gotham oil tycoon Michael Abbey.  GMZ will bring you more on this story as we get it.”

Damian looked up to find Robin standing with her arms crossed tightly over her chest.  “Robin, we always knew this would happen eventually.  I’m surprised we flew under the radar for so long.  As far as celebrity gossip goes, this isn’t too bad.  I wonder why Dick didn’t tell me about this.  He’s always watching this stupid channel.”

“Read the comments,” Robin said softly.

Damian scrolled down and read the comments section, “Cute couple…Aren’t they both a little young…Never thought a Wayne would be a chubby chaser…Can’t he do any better than that…How about some stories and pictures of Brucie’s older sons?  They’re cuter…Chill out on the hate, they’re just kids.”

Robin sniffled, and Damian got up and hugged his girlfriend.  He spoke softly, “What do they know?  Internet trolls are only slightly better than the people who post these articles in the first place.”

Robin buried her face in Damian’s shoulder.  “I don’t care about them,” she sobbed.

Robin cried for a minute before walking back to the computer and pulling up the same picture on her Facebook feed.  “Read those comments,” she was barely able to choke out.

Damian didn’t like the way Robin’s mood was falling.  He sat down again, “The first one is from Dick, big surprise.  ‘Awwww’.  _Real_ articulate, Grayson.”

Damian scrolled down, and the ends of his lips seemed to be magnetically drawn towards the ground as his face became redder.  “You don’t deserve him…You left Gotham, leave the Wayne’s, too…Why would a Wayne go for a fat ass like you…Thar she blows…Kinda out of your league, isn’t he…You must be an incredible slut…Whoring out for that money, chubby…You don’t think he’s actually interested in you, do you…Leave the Wayne’s alone, fatty…Whore is robbing the cradle…Are you with him for the free food or the money…A Wayne can do much better than you…Which one is the pity date…Stick with your own kind and weight class…Please kill yourself.”

Damian’s face was beet red.  His breaths were coming in ragged gasps, and Robin could swear there was steam billowing out of Damian’s ears.  He looked up at Robin and growled, “Are they all like this?”

Robin sniffled as she nodded.

Scared of the answer, Damian demanded, “How many are there?”

“Over fifty-five thousand,” Robin said, tears streaking her cheeks.

Damian’s eyes nearly fell out of his head, and he was shaking with the effort it was taking to control his reaction, “Fifty-five _thousand_?”

Robin nodded again, almost able to hear Damian’s fuse getting shorter.

“And getting all that thrown at you got to you?”

Robin nodded shakily, acutely scared of the hard look coming from her boyfriend.

“Excuse me,” Damian growled as he got up and quickly left the room.

Robin was barely able to keep up with Damian as he stalked out of the house and into the back yard.  The back yard of the Abbey house was actually divided into two sections.  The first section was cleared and manicured.  The second section was wooded, and divided from the first section by a six foot tall, wooden fence.  Damian stopped at the fence and paced back and forth for a few seconds before an angry shout escaped from his throat, and he threw a punch at the fence.  Robin gasped from the back door of the house as Damian snarled and punched the slat again.  The third strike shattered the board, and Damian moved on to the next one, and the next one, and the next one.

“Stop it,” Robin shrieked, “Please, Damian, stop!”

Her voice was able to break through his red mist.  Damian turned, panting and still needing a release.  Robin was sobbing as she choked out, “Dad has a punching bag in the garage.”

Damian stalked forward, pulling splinters the size of toothpicks from his knuckles.  “Where’s the garage,” he growled.

Robin showed Damian to the garage, one of the few rooms in the house he had never seen.  Damian looked at the setup before calling over his shoulder, “You should probably go upstairs for this, Robin.”

Damian waited a second before throwing his strongest punch at the bag.  He was satisfied with the feeling it gave him, and he let his anger take over.  Damian wailed on the punching bag for fifteen minutes straight, his assault only broken by his screams of anger and frustration.

Damian finally slumped to his knees, panting breathlessly as his anger finally started to release its hold on him.  He was surprised as he heard a soft step behind him.

Damian whipped his head around, then sighed, “I didn’t want you to see that, Robin.”

Robin approached cautiously and spoke softly, “I’ve known you had that temper for a long time.”

“Knowing it and seeing it are two different things.”  Damian rose and turned to Robin, “I’m sorry.  It’s just…what’s the point?  Why do I go out and defend the people of Gotham, when they’re just going to turn around and throw out this kind of hate?  Those comments had to all come from Gotham people.  GMZ focuses on Gotham celebrity news.  No one outside of the city would care about what’s going on in the city.  You didn’t do anything to deserve this.”

Robin couldn’t respond for a minute.  She looked down and said softly, “You hurt your hands.”

Damian looked down at his abraded knuckles, dripping blood on the floor.  He looked back at the punching bag to find bloody fist prints covering the surface.

“It’s not that bad.”

“Let me clean you up,” Robin said, gently taking Damian’s hand and leading him upstairs to the bathroom.

Damian didn’t wince as Robin poured alcohol over his self-inflicted wounds.  Instead, Damian asked, “Did you read all fifty-five thousand of those comments?”

“Yes,” Robin said.

“And, they’re all the same?”

“More or less.”

Damian sighed, “And, having that many people call you a money grubbing, fat whore, while looking at the one and only picture in existence that made you look heavier than you actually were, made an impact?”

Robin nodded sadly.

“Why didn’t you call me,” Damian asked desperately, “Why didn’t you tell me what was going on?”

“I was scared,” Robin said.

“Of what?”

Robin looked ready to collapse, “That they were right.”

They stayed in a weighted silence until Robin sat in Damian’s lap.  Damian wrapped his arms tightly around Robin and said softly, “They’re wrong.  All of them.  You are not a whore.  You have never stood on street corners to sell your body for money.  You have never once asked for anything that could possibly make anyone think you are just with me to get at Father’s money.  And, last but not least, you are not fat.  You weren’t fat before, and you certainly aren’t now.  You were healthy, and beautiful.  You’re still beautiful, but now we have to get you healthy again.”

_Is this how Damian is able to get past this, by focusing on a fix?  I’m still thinking about what the people were saying, and he’s already looking at moving on?  How can he move on so fast, and why couldn’t I?_

“How can you just move on so quickly?”

Damian buried his face in Robin’s shoulder, “If I don’t force myself to move on, I’ll get stuck in it, and end up doing something you won’t like.  If I sink to vengeance, especially in something like this, I might never get out of it.  Fortunately, I have something far more important to focus on.  I can’t go after all fifty-five thousand commenters, no matter how much I want to, but I can focus on you.  I can’t go after those who caused the damage without trying to repair the damage first.”

“How do we do that,” Robin asked.

Damian thought for a minute before saying, “It’s going to have to be a two-pronged approach.  We’re going to address your body and your mind.”

“How is that going to get your mind off of revenge?”

Damian looked up into Robin’s eyes, “As you get healthier, my mind will clear.  Um, how did you lose all this weight?”

Robin looked down, “I stopped eating.  Every time I had food in front of me, I remembered another comment calling me fat, and I couldn’t eat.”

Damian shook his head with a sigh, “Thank god you didn’t turn to drugs, or something equally as stupid.  You could have killed yourself doing this, you know.  That can’t happen.  I can’t lose you.  I wasn’t about to let the Penguin take you away from me.  I sure as hell am not going to lose you to some assholes on the internet.”

Damian met Robin’s eyes again, “Robin, I never cared about your weight, until it became unhealthy.  Do you know why?  Because almost all of our relationship had been over the phone.  Yes, absolutely, your looks attracted me when we first met.  They still do.  What has kept us together, though, has been your mind, and your spirit.  If there wasn’t something a thousand times more beautiful going on inside your mind than outside, we wouldn’t have lasted this long.  We can have those long, interesting talks.  We might be thinking about each other’s bodies, but they have never once dominated our conversations.  In the end, the only person you have to please is yourself…and me.”

Robin embraced Damian tightly, “I love you so much.  I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Damian said, “We’re going to make it, Robin.  It’s not going to be easy, but we’ll do it.”

“How do we start?”

Damian sighed, already hating his first suggestion, “First, we should get dressed.  Your parents will be home soon.  Oh, I hope no one calls the police on us.  Shouting and running around the back yard in my underwear probably wasn’t the smartest thing I could have done.”

Robin grimaced, “So, that’s a no to sex?”

Damian smirked, “There’s always tonight.”

The couple walked back to Robin’s room.  Damian picked up his pants, and Robin asked, “Can you leave your shirt off while you explain how things are going to work?”

Damian smiled as he buttoned his jeans.  Robin gave him a provocative look and said, “Please?”

Damian dropped his shirt on the bed as he tossed Robin her pants, “Since you asked so nicely, okay.  I thought you didn’t like looking at my scars?”

Robin shrugged as she slipped into her jeans.  She walked over and fingered his shoulder again, “I don’t know.  There’s something about this one that I find attractive.  Maybe it’s because you earned that one while standing up to your mother.”

Damian kissed his girlfriend deeply before whispering, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered back, “What’s your plan?”

Damian sighed, “We start with Facebook.  I take it you aren’t willing to close your account completely?”

“I’d like to be able to keep in touch with my friends,” Robin said hesitantly.

Damian nodded, “You might not like to hear this, but it’s possible that some or all of those messages were sent by your Facebook friends.”

Robin’s eyes widened, “I hadn’t considered that.”

“If you won’t close it completely, then make your profile private.”

Robin thought for a second, “I can do that.  What else?”

Damian asked, “Have you reported those comments as abuse, cyber-bullying, whatever Facebook calls them?”

Robin shook her head, “No.”

Damian took a deep breath, “Okay.  Do it.  Let Facebook know that this is going on, and let them police their site.  Don’t read them again, just flag them.  They disappear when you flag them, right?”

Robin shrugged, “I’m pretty sure they do.  That’s still going to take a while.”

Damian nodded slowly, “Yes, and you can’t start that yet.  What you can do now is go over your friend list and see who really is your friend.  Get rid of the others.”

Robin looked like she was accepting the suggestions, if not liking them.  Damian continued, “The next part will be the hardest part of all.  You need to tell your parents what’s going on, and show them the messages.”

Robin’s eyes widened in fear, “You’re right, that’s going to be hard.”

Damian said softly, “They have to know, Robin.  I promised your Father I would help figure out what’s going on.  They’re worried about you.”

Robin looked up, “What are you going to do while I’m doing all of this?”

Damian smiled, “I’m going to make you something to eat while you work on Facebook, and I’m going to stand next to you and hold your hand while you tell your parents.  Then, I’m going to tell your Father that I owe him a fence.”

They could hear the front door opening downstairs, and both rushed to grab their shirts.  They chuckled as Robin picked up her laptop and they headed downstairs.  Lisa gave Damian and Robin a hug as they headed for the kitchen.  Damian started scrambling a couple eggs while Robin explained the hellish month and a half she had just endured.  Mike was just as mad as Damian had been when he saw the comments, but he was able to control himself much better than the volatile teen.  Lisa just cried as she hugged her daughter.

Once the family had calmed down, Lisa asked about the plate of eggs Damian had set in front of Robin.  “What’s that for?  We were going to take you two out to dinner.”

Damian looked up seriously, “Robin hasn’t eaten a full meal in over a month.  We need to start slowly, so her body gets used to being fed again.  Starvation does things to the body.  If we give her too much too fast, she could get sick.”

“You sound like you’re speaking from experience,” Mike pointed out.

“I am,” Damian sighed, “She should stick to soft foods for a while.”

“I’m still hungry,” Robin said as she laid her fork on the cleaned plate, “We can still go out, and I’ll get a bowl of soup, or something.”

Damian smiled at the girl as Mike said, “Okay, then put your computer away and get your shoes.  Could you grab Damian’s, too?  I want to have a quick word with him.”

Damian followed Mike into the rear bonus room, and the teen was not all that surprised when Mike hugged him.

“Thank you, Damian.”

Damian returned the hug, marveling in how similar it felt to being hugged by his own Father.  “I promised I’d find out what was happening.”

“You did more than that,” Mike said, releasing the teen, “You gave me my daughter back.  She’s been around you for two hours, and this is the most open she’s been in weeks.”

Damian blushed slightly, “Well, I’m glad you handled the news better than I did.”

“What do you mean,” Mike asked curiously.

Damian hitched a thumb over his shoulder, “I, kind of, owe you a fence.”

Mike’s eyes widened at the destruction of his back yard, “What happened here?”

Damian sighed, “Like I said, I didn’t take the news well.  If you want to take me to a hardware store tomorrow, I’ll fix it before the party.”

“Is that what happened to your hands,” Mike asked.

“Yeah,” Damian said, looking down at his bandaged knuckles.

Mike nodded, “You know, Damian, you’ve been so good for this family.  There are times when I wish I could just adopt you.”

Damian’s eyes widened dramatically, “You can’t adopt me!”

“Why not,” Mike asked, smiling.

“Because then I’d be dating my sister, and we’d have to move to the South and live in a trailer.  I couldn’t handle that.”

Robin brought Damian his shoes and asked, “Do I want to know what that was about?”

Mike laughed as he walked out of the room, “Probably not, Honey.  Hurry up, you two.  I’m hungry.”

_Later That Night…_

Following dinner, and the flagging of almost half of the offensive comments, Robin snuck into the guest room and into the guest bathroom, where Damian was taking a shower.  Robin was originally just going to sit on the counter and wait, but a better idea struck the teen.  She stripped and slid into the shower stall, behind Damian.

“Do you normally let people sneak up on you like this?”

“I heard you when you opened the door to the guest room, and when you came into the bathroom, and the minute you spent staring at me through the shower curtain.”  Damian held a bar of soap over his shoulder, “Could you do my back?”

Robin smirked as she took the bar, “Only if you do me back.”

Damian enjoyed the thoroughness Robin employed in cleansing his back.  When her hands continued to squeeze his rear end, he turned to embrace the girl.

“We’ve never messed around in the shower before.  Don’t you think we’re pushing it a bit, with your parents still awake, and right downstairs?”

The couple’s hands wandered seductively, until Robin said, “With as excited as you are, I think it will be quick.”

Damian turned Robin to stand under the water stream and began washing her.  Damian whispered in her ear as he washed her back, “We’re facing the same problem you thought I was thinking about earlier: no condoms.  I didn’t exactly plan on giving you the gift of motherhood for your birthday.”

Robin rinsed off with a sigh, and Damian turned off the shower.

As they were toweling each other off, Gina’s voice could be heard from the other side of the door, in the guest room, “If you’re done deflowering my sister, Mom has ice cream downstairs.”

Damian and Robin both blushed a deep red and giggled quietly as Robin put her clothes back on.  Damian wrapped a towel around his waist and answered Robin’s raised eyebrow.  “My clothes are out there.”

Damian took a step towards the door, and Robin asked, “You’re just going to go out there?  Dressed like that?  With Gina still out there?”

Damian smirked, “Do you think that your gay sister is just going to magically turn straight by seeing me in a towel?”

Robin shrugged, “You seem to have a power over the Abbey women.  It wouldn’t surprise me.”

Damian opened the door, and enjoyed the flustered blush that lit up Gina’s face.  “Thanks,” Damian said with a smile, “We’ll be down in a minute.”

Gina stuttered at the unexpected sight, and nearly tripped over the bed as she backed out of the room.  “Y-yeah, s-sure.”

Gina closed the door behind her, and Robin started laughing as Damian dropped his towel and got dressed.  “You’re right,” Robin laughed, “That was fun.”

_Saturday…_

Damian gave an overly dramatic sob as he was awakened by his cell phone.

“Fatherrrr,” Damian whined over the phone, “It’s four in the morning on a Saturday.”

“Were you sleeping,” Bruce asked.

“Yes, I was sleeping,” Damian said, like the answer should have been obvious.

“Alone?”

“Of course, not alone,” Damian said, his eyes starting to slip closed.

Damian could hear Bruce’s wince, “So, I woke Robin up, too?”

Damian held the phone up to Robin’s head, “Good morning, Mr. Wayne,” Robin said through a heavy yawn, before resting her head on Damian’s chest.

“Good morning, Robin.  Happy birthday.”

“Thank you,” she murmured, asleep again.

Damian pressed the phone to his ear again, his other hand rubbing up and down Robin’s back.  “Why are you calling so early, Father?  Is there another group of kids impersonating me again?”

Bruce smiled, “You didn’t call yesterday, to let me know you arrived.”

Damian was quiet for a minute, “…And you waited until the ass-crack of dawn to call and remind me?”

“You have never been known to say you will do something, then not do it, son.”

Damian sighed, “I sent you a text from the airport when we landed.”

“You did,” Bruce asked, confused.  Bruce checked his phone and found the message in question, “Oh, you did.  I missed that one.  Sorry to wake you up.”

“It’s okay, we were just sleeping.  We’re going to be busy today.  I’d like a little more than three hours of sleep, Father.”

 _Three hours?  I don’t know if I want to ask what kept them up last night.  I’m afraid that if I do ask, I’ll get the answer I deserve._   “Sorry, Damian.  I’ll let you get back to sleep.”

Damian was about to hang up the phone when a thought hit him, “Oh, wait, Father.”

“What?”

Damian forced himself to open his eyes, “Did Dick tell you that Robin’s and my relationship was found out by GMZ?”

Bruce was surprised by that news, “No, he didn’t.”

“Yeah.  Right after our anniversary, Robin posted a picture of us on her Facebook.  Someone sent it to GMZ, and they ran a full story on their website.  The, um, the reaction has been mostly negative.”

Bruce didn’t like the sound of that, “What do you mean, negative?”

Damian yawned, “Have Dick look at Robin’s page, and read the comments for our picture.  It’s taken a toll on Robin’s health, and I didn’t react too well when I found out yesterday.  Now, we have to get Robin healthy again, and I have a fence to mend.”

Bruce sighed, “Who did you offend?”

Damian thought for a second, “…The fence.  I didn’t handle the news well, and I took out my anger on the Abbey’s back fence.  I told Mr. Abbey I would fix it before the party.”

Bruce nodded, “Oh, _literally_ mending fences.  I’ll have Dick take a look.  Is there anything I can do to help?”

“There’s something Tim can do,” Damian said, “but I don’t think Robin will allow it.  I’ll let you know.”

They were quiet for a minute before Bruce said, “Get some sleep, son.”

Damian was almost asleep already, “Okay, Dad.  Love you.”

 _I love when he doesn’t censor himself; and lets those little bits of honesty slip out._   “Love you too, kiddo.”

Damian hung up his phone and dropped it on the bed.  He was ready to go back to sleep when Robin rolled on top of Damian.

“Hey, since you’re awake…”

“I’m not awake,” Damian mumbled as Robin’s body slid over his.

“Some of you is,” Robin said seductively.

Damian sighed and wrapped his arms around Robin, “Don’t you want all of me, though?”

Robin reached under her pillow and pulled out a condom, “I’ll take what I can get.”

Damian took a deep breath as his hands slid down Robin’s back lightly, only stopping when he was gripping her rear end, “Okay, but then we’re going back to sleep.”

Robin smiled and sat up, but they both stopped as they heard a strange noise in the hall.

“What is that,” Damian asked.

Robin sighed, “Someone’s sick.”

“That must be Gina.  She told me she was sick on the plane yesterday.”

They both cringed as Gina threw up in the bathroom next to Robin’s bedroom.

Damian looked up, “I don’t know about you, but that killed my mood.”

Robin nodded, “Yeah, mine too.”

“Should we go check on her,” Damian asked.

“Might as well,” Robin said, rolling out of bed and throwing on her bathrobe. 

Damian pulled his boxers and a t-shirt on, and they walked next door, to the bathroom.  Gina was praying to the porcelain gods, and Damian and Robin cringed.

Damian turned to Robin and asked, “You didn’t make a habit of doing that to lose weight, did you?”

Robin shook her head, “No, I just stopped eating.  Don’t worry, I won’t do that again.”

Gina gasped in-between hurls, “Do you two actually find me this fascinating?  Shouldn’t you be continuing with your rampant, boisterous, love-making?”

“We weren’t that loud,” Damian said, blushing slightly.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Gina said as she dove for the bowl again.

Robin walked over and pulled Gina’s hair back gently, “Why did you come, if you’re this sick?”

Gina accepted the wet towel Damian handed her to wipe her face, “My sister only turns sixteen once.  Anyway, I missed you, even if you aren’t taking care of yourself.”

Robin rolled her eyes as she sat next to Gina and hugged her lightly, “We talked about that yesterday; I’m not doing that anymore.  If you’re done, we should get you back to bed.”

Gina got up shakily and rinsed her mouth, “Yeah.  Um, would I be the world’s biggest jerk if I asked you to stay with me, Robin?”

Robin looked at her sister with guarded hope, “You mean, like, cuddle?  Like we used to when we were little?”

“I know you have another pillow to cuddle with now, but…”

Robin turned to Damian, “Can I?  We haven’t done this in years.”

Damian smiled, “What are you asking me for?  This is your birthday, you can do whatever you want.”

“You would give her up,” Gina asked.

Damian said, “She isn’t exactly going far.”

“You’re not mad,” Gina asked.

“I told you I would never get in the way of you spending time with your family and friends.  I think I’ll be okay for the rest of the night.  Why don’t I walk you back to your room, Gina, while Robin changes?  I know you two are close, but you probably want her to wear something more than just her bathrobe.”

Gina reached over and hooked a finger in Robin’s robe, pulling it open enough to confirm what Damian said, while bringing a smile to his face at the peek he got.

“Yeah, why don’t you put something on,” Gina said.

Damian walked with Gina back to the older girl’s bedroom.  Gina turned to look at the teen, “Damian, I’m really okay, now.  I can make it across the hall.”

“I know,” Damian said quietly, “I just wanted to warn you.  Robin is really skinny.  We’ll get her back to normal, but…she’s sensitive about it.”

Gina smiled and kissed Damian’s cheek, “You’re a good boyfriend, Damian.  I promise I won’t upset her.”  Robin walked into the room in pajamas, and Gina said, “Now, go away.  It’s girl’s only time.”

_Later…_

“Good morning, Mr. Wayne.  It’s time to wake up.”

Damian grumbled and rolled over in Robin’s bed, “Let me sleep, Alfred.  I was up half the night.”

“Yes, we know.”

Damian’s eyes snapped open.  _That’s not Alfred._

Damian pulled the blankets down far enough to uncover his eyes, to see Mr. Abbey standing at the end of Robin’s bed.  “Good morning, Mr. Abbey.  Um, we weren’t too loud last night, were we?”

Mike didn’t answer.  He just tossed a can of WD-40 on the bed.  Damian sighed while blushing, “Right.  Sorry.”

“Where’s Robin,” Mike asked.

Damian yawned and stretched as he sat up, “She’s across the hall, with Gina.”

Mike looked at Damian strangely, “Did you kick her out of bed?”

“I would never do that,” Damian said, “Gina was sick and throwing up a little after four o’clock this morning.  She asked if Robin would stay with her.”

Mike smiled, “They used to do that all the time as kids.  Did Gina wake you and Robin up?”

Damian grimaced, “No.  My Father called to check on me at four.  He woke us up.”

Mike smiled, “You know us fathers.  Come on, get dressed.  You promised to help me fix the fence.”

Damian climbed out of the bed, and Mike was secretly pleased that the boy had the decency to be wearing appropriate sleeping attire.  Damian said, “No, I promised to fix it myself.  I broke it; I should fix it.”

As it turned out, it wasn’t Damian’s lack of sleep that kept him from being more helpful in rebuilding the damage he caused.  Overnight, his fingers had stiffened up as his knuckles started to heal, and it hurt to close his hands.  Damian was relegated to serving as little more than an assistant, handing supplies to Mike while the man replaced the four broken boards.

The whole repair took just over an hour, including the trip to and from the store for supplies, during which Damian apologized ten times that he wasn’t more useful.

After their stint in carpentry, Damian went to the garage and bleached his blood off of the punching bag and cleaned up the blood drops on the garage floor.

Damian and Robin were cleaning and bandaging his hands again when Mike and Lisa told them they were leaving to finalize one last detail for the upcoming party.  Gina was downstairs, decorating the living room, so the couple took a half hour to themselves, to kiss and cuddle.

“Is this my birthday present,” Robin asked.

Damian asked with a smirk, “I’m here.  What better present could you ask for?”

Robin rolled her eyes with a smile, then said, “How about a night where we aren’t interrupted by sick sisters or phoning fathers.”

Damian smiled as he combed his fingers through Robin’s hair, “We can work on that.  I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier.  What did you do for breakfast?”

Robin looked up into Damian’s eyes, “Checking up on me?”

“I’m still scared, Robin,” Damian said softly, “I’m still worried.”

Robin looked down, “I’m sorry.  Mom made me some oatmeal and toast.  I think I can get back to a more normal diet now.  It seems like, the more I eat, the hungrier I am.”

Damian smiled, “That’s good, but still, take it easy.  When I was starved at the school, while undercover, I was only without food for a week, and Alfred kept me on nutrient solutions for days before starting me on solid food.”

“You know I hate hearing about all the times you’ve been close to death,” Robin said softly, “I didn’t stop eating altogether, I just didn’t eat more than a couple bites a day.”

Damian looked confused, “How did your parents let you get away with that?  Didn’t they notice?”

Robin shrugged, “I hardly ever eat breakfast normally.  Lunch is always at school, and with Mom and Dad working at the oil company, I’m usually on my own for dinner.”

Damian closed his eyes, “Then why don’t you call me more?  That’s too much time alone.  Even if it isn’t to keep track of your diet, I don’t want you to be lonely.  It doesn’t matter what you think I might be doing, I want to hear from you a lot more.”

Robin blushed a bit, “I don’t want to be a burden.  You’re busy with your own school, and stuff.”

Damian shook his head, “You’ve never been a burden.  I take online classes from home.  Father only lets me patrol a couple nights a week.  I have my team trainings every other Saturday night.  The only times I ever really leave the house is when I go grocery shopping with Alfred, and even then, I only go with him occasionally.  Believe me, I have the time.  You and I are going to have a long, happy life together, but not if we can’t always be there for each other.”

Robin grew a slow smile, “Are you sure you’re only fourteen?  You sound too much like an adult.”

Damian sighed, “I’ve been an adult since I was four years old.”

Robin matched the sigh, “I wish, for once, that you didn’t have to be the strong one in the relationship.”

Damian kissed Robin lightly, “Thank you, but I’m not strong.  Not by a long shot.”

“Then, how do you explain how supportive you’ve always been to me?”

Damian sighed again, “I love you too much to do anything else.  You know I have attachment issues; well, I’m attached.  My therapist is actually trying to get me to think of myself more.  That is advice I’ll never take, when it comes to you.  I don’t deserve you; I know I don’t.  What really scared me was…I thought you had come to that conclusion, too.”

Robin was getting concerned the longer Damian spoke, but she wanted to do anything to help him, if she could.  “What are you talking about?”

Damian stared at his lap for a minute, gathering his courage to speak.  Finally, he said, “After our anniversary, you changed.  You started cutting off contact with me.  I think I understand why now, but then, it scared me.”

“Why?”

Damian was desperate to hide the quake in his lower lip, “We haven’t Skyped in over a month.  Our calls started getting shorter.  We started texting more, but even that became less frequent.  Then, for the very first time in the two years we’ve been dating, you didn’t answer your phone when I called.  I had never heard your voicemail, until last week.”

Robin looked shocked, “Has it been that obvious?”

“I looked it up.  Before our anniversary, we were speaking, on average, multiple times a day, at least five days a week, with an average call length of forty-five minutes.  Over the last two weeks, we have spoken only twice a week, with an average call length of just under nine and a half minutes.  I thought…”

Damian trailed off as his breath hitched.  Robin pulled Damian into a gentle hug, “What did you think?”

Damian took a shuddering breath, “I didn’t know about your weight loss, or anything that was going on online.  I thought…I thought you didn’t like me anymore.  I thought you had finally realized that you deserve much better than me; and were looking for a way to end things between us.”

Damian dropped his head to Robin’s shoulder, trying unsuccessfully not to cry.  Robin whispered in his ear, “Never think that.  I never thought that, and you shouldn’t, either.  I knew our conversations got shorter, but that’s because I was trying to keep you from finding all this out.  You know, my weight, and what had been happening online.  I knew, if we spoke longer, I would spill everything.  Since you were in Gotham, and I’m sure most of the comments came from people in Gotham, I didn’t want you going on a killing spree.  Look what you did to your hands, and the fence, when you found out.  Would you have been able to control that on your own, four thousand miles from here?”

Damian sighed deeply, his head still on Robin’s shoulder, “No, I wouldn’t have been able to control myself.  Father could have stopped me, though.”

“With or without sedatives and strait jackets?”

Damian looked up into Robin’s eyes, “With.  Definitely with.  God, this is so hard.  I never thought this long-distance relationship would be this hard.  I miss you so much, when I can’t see you.  I’ve been so scared, thinking you might want to break up.”

“Never, Damian,” Robin said, moving him back to show Damian the ring he gave her when she moved to Alaska, “You said this wasn’t an engagement ring, but to me, it is.  I’ve been asked out a dozen times since we moved here, but I never once thought about saying yes.  Actually, you coming out for my birthday party, and meeting my friends later today, will go a long way to getting that to stop.  It will finally get around that you are real.”

Damian cocked his head to the side as a wry smile played at the corner of his lips, “Your friends don’t believe I’m real?”

Robin shrugged, “They’ve never seen you.  I’ve shown them pictures, but we really haven’t taken too many that I want to share.  Plus, you don’t have a Facebook page.”

“You shouldn’t have one, either,” Damian said, “Not after the damage it’s caused.”

Robin rested her forehead against Damian’s, and they got lost in each other’s eyes.  Neither knew, or cared, how long they sat there.  They were content to sit and stare for the rest of the afternoon, until Gina gave an overdramatic sigh from the living room door.

“Why don’t you two just get a room already?”

Robin rolled her eyes at her sister’s interruption, but then asked, “Do you want to?  Mom and Dad won’t be home for another hour.  We have plenty of time to do that, shower, and change for the party.”

Damian looked seriously into Robin’s eyes, “Yes.  Yes, I do.”

_Fifty-eight Minutes Later…_

Damian and Robin walked back downstairs, hand in hand, wearing different clothes than they had been wearing the last time Gina saw the pair.  Gina was putting the finishing touches on the decorations when she saw the couple.

Her jaw dropped as she said, “You did, didn’t you?  You did get a room.”

“It was your idea,” Damian said with a smile.

Gina just shook her head, “Teenagers.”

Damian’s phone started vibrating in his pocket.  He looked to see that his Father was calling.

“Give me a minute, Robin.”  Damian answered the phone and said, “I know this can’t be you, Father.  It’s not the middle of the night.”

“It’s both of us,” Dick’s voice replied, “How long has this been going on?”

 _They read the comments, I see._   Damian made his way to the rear bonus room and said quietly, “Since she posted the picture.  You didn’t know?”

Dick spoke seriously, “You don’t think I would tell you about something like this?  I only check her page if she messages me.  You were right, being Facebook friends with my underage brother’s underage girlfriend is a little creepy.  I never saw any of these comments until today.”

Damian sighed, “How many did you read?”

Bruce spoke up, “Only the first two thousand.”

Damian’s eyes widened, “Two _thousand?_ ”

“I know, it’s not a lot, compared to what’s there…”

Damian interrupted his father, “How could you read two thousand of them?  I only made it through the first fifteen before I wanted to kill someone.  Are…are they all bad?”

Bruce hesitated before saying, “Yes, son.”

Damian slumped down into a chair, a hand rising to cover his eyes.  The silence continued for a minute before Bruce said softly, “Damian…”

“I love her so much, Dad,” Damian interrupted tearfully, “Why are people like that?  These aren’t just random people making these comments, they are mostly people who live in Gotham.  Those are people that we protect.  Why do we do it?  Why do we help people who turn around and make comments like that?  Comments that can ruin people’s lives?”

 _Is he crying?_   Bruce was having a harder time with this conversation that he thought he would.  “Damian, what happened to Robin?  You said this morning that you had to get her healthy again.”

Damian sniffled, “Robin read _all_ of the comments.  All fifty-five thousand of them.  She saw all the comments calling her fat, and she believed them.  Robin stopped eating.  She lost a lot of weight.  Too much weight.  We had a long talk about it, and she’s been eating since I’ve been here.”

“That’s terrible, Little D,” Dick said.

“Is there anything we can do,” Bruce asked.

“There’s something I want to do, but I don’t think Robin will be okay with it.”

“What, son?”

Damian’s voice grew cold, “I want the names of the people sending those messages.”

Bruce sounded acutely concerned at Damian’s tone of voice, “Could you trust yourself with that list of names?”

Damian sighed, “No, and Robin knows that, which is why I’m forcing myself to clear that with her first.  Even if we don’t pay them a personal visit, we could at least use the list to adjust our annual charitable giving.”

 _Should I tell him that I already had Tim pull a list of names from the comments?_   “I can understand wanting that list, and your suggestion about the donations is a good one.  Remember what you’re working on with Dinah, though, and try to use some of that self-control you’re learning.  Also remember, the fact that comments like those are out there is one of the reasons why we do what we do, to protect the victims.”

“I know, Father.  That isn’t the easiest thing to remember when the victim is someone you love.  She kept this from me, because she didn’t want me to do something stupid, and she ended up hurting herself.  She was suffering in silence, because she was worried about how I’d react.”

Robin walked into the bonus room and sat in Damian’s lap.  Damian held her tight as Bruce said, “That’s terrible, son, but it’s all out in the open now.  You two are working on it, and it will get better.  You know, the next time she comes to Gotham, you two are going to have to make some sort of public appearance, to silence the critics.”

“Or, to give them more to talk about,” Damian pointed out.

“That’s possible,” Bruce said, “Two things before I let you go.  First, Mike sent me a text this morning to have me ask you two to be a little more…subtle, in the future.”

Damian blushed deeply, “Okay, we got a little carried away last night.  Do we have to tell the whole world about it?”

Dick chuckled in the background as Bruce said, “Number two.  In your bag, with Robin’s birthday present, is a card from the rest of us.”

Damian’s eyes widened a bit, “Father, that’s very nice of you.  Thank you.”

Damian could hear Bruce’s shrug, “She’s important to you, and you’re important to us.  Using the transitive property, she’s important to us.  We couldn’t just ignore her birthday.”

Damian smiled, “Despite the long-winded explanation, thank you.  Should I set my alarm for four, so I can be more alert when you call in the middle of the night, or should I just call tomorrow to check in?”

Bruce smiled, “Tomorrow’s good.  Have fun at the party.”

“I’ll try, Father.  You know how I do at parties.”

Damian put his phone away and smiled up at the girl in his lap, “Hey, you.”

“That was your Dad?”

Damian smiled and nodded, “And Dick.  They, um, looked at the reaction to our photo.  They aren’t happy.”

Robin looked away and said, “I have a confession to make.  I listened to your side of the conversation from the hall.  I don’t want you having that list of names.”

Damian nodded, “I didn’t think you would.  I’m not even sure I really want it.”

Robin continued, “I want your Dad to have it, though.”

That surprised Damian, “Why?”

“Because your idea was a good one.  I liked the thought of adjusting his donations based on who is and who isn’t on that list.  I know, it’s petty, and it comes close to the money-grubbing that I was accused of, but maybe it can shed some light on a problem.”

A slow smile crossed Damian’s face, “And, it will be really satisfying to tell some of those snobs why they don’t get any more of Father’s money.  I’ll text him and let him know to get the names, but to keep the list away from me.”

Damian sent the text, then looked up at Robin with a smirk, “You know, I thought I was the one who ran on vengeance?”

Robin winked at Damian, “You?  Why would you think that?  You’re a cupcake.”

Damian laughed, “Oh, I’m a cupcake?”

“You bet.  Some might even say you are bordering on cream puff.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you’re bad to the bone.”

“Is this what constitutes flirting between you two,” Gina asked, leaning against the doorframe.

“We were just getting to the good part, Gina,” Damian said with a smile.

Gina rolled her eyes, “You don’t have time for that.  The party starts in, like, twenty minutes.”

Robin nodded, “That reminds me.  Damian, Dad asked if either you or Gina could answer the door when guests arrive.  He said I’m not allowed to look out front until he tells me.”

Damian nodded, “I can do that.  We can mess with your friends that way.  With what you’ve told me about them, I can probably guess who each one is when they show up.  It really screws with people’s heads when you can look at them for the first time and call them by name.”

Gina walked away, and the couple headed for the living room.  Damian said, “Since you brought it up, speaking of cake…”

Robin interrupted with a gasp, “I know.  I saw what Mom made.  Didn’t that look amazing?”  Robin eyed Damian for a second, “I know, you’re going to force me to eat a slice.”

Damian leaned in, “No, I’m going to make you eat two.  I might have two myself.  You’re right, it does look really good.”

“Mom makes incredible cakes.  You won’t be disappointed, and you won’t have to force me to eat it.”

The couple sat in the living room, waiting on guests, and a strange look crossed Damian’s face.  Robin called him on it, and he answered her question timidly, “I’ve never been invited to a birthday party before.  I don’t know what to do at one.  I…I’m a little nervous.”

Robin looked at Damian in disbelief, “Your brothers threw you a surprise party for your thirteenth birthday.  I’m sorry I wasn’t able to make it out for that.  What did you do then?”

Damian tried to defend himself, knowing he had told this story to Robin at least once in the past.  “First of all, there is a big difference in going to a party being held for you and being invited to someone else’s party.  You know how well I handle surprises.  It had been a terrible day, and the last thing I was expecting was a surprise party, especially after I made everyone swear to ignore my birthday.  They yelled surprise, and instinct took over.  Let’s just say that the damage I did to your fence yesterday was nothing compared to what I did to the formal dining room that day.  Father didn’t even have to tell me that I was grounded.  It was just that obvious.”

The doorbell rang, and Robin kissed Damian on the cheek, “I guess you’ll just have to learn as we go.  Get the door, dear.”

Damian opened the door with a smile and was met by a much older woman than he was expecting.

“Oh.  Hello.”

The woman gave a kind smile, “You just _have_ to be Damian.”

Confused, Damian shrugged and said, “No one else wants to be, so I guess I just have to be Damian.”

The woman walked into the house and set her bags by the door, “My little bird described you exactly.”

“Damian, who is it,” Robin asked, walking into the entryway.  Her jaw dropped, and she streaked across the space, “Gramma!”

 _Oh.  That makes sense,_ Damian thought.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” the younger girl said, still hugging the older woman.

“I was going to come Monday, and stay for the week, but then I thought, I can’t miss my little bird’s sweet sixteen.”

Robin blushed at the name, “We’re going to be a little tight here tonight, then, with Damian and my friends sleeping over tonight.”

Damian was surprised at the news, “Your friends are sleeping over?”

Robin gasped, “I totally forgot to tell you, didn’t I?”

“It’s okay,” Damian said.

Gramma cleared her throat, “Are you going to introduce me to this young gentleman?”

Robin smiled, “Gramma, this is Damian, my boyfriend.  I’ve told you about him.  Damian, this is my Grandmother.”

“Call me Nana,” the woman said, extending a hand.

Damian took the hand gently and said, “I don’t know if I can do that, Ma’am.  I think our butler would explode from four thousand miles away.”

Nana eyed the teen, “Butler?  Do you come from money, Damian?”

Robin spoke up, “This is Damian Wayne.  Son of Bruce Wayne.”

Nana’s eyes widened, “Well, you sure know how to pick ‘em, dear.”

“Are you from Gotham City, Ma’am,” Damian asked.

“Sure am.  I even worked for Wayne Enterprises in the secretarial pool before I retired.  That was probably before you were born.”

Lisa walked into the entryway after hearing the voices, “Hi, Mom.  I didn’t think you were coming until Monday.”

“You know me and parties, Lisa,” the woman laughed.

Feeling a bit left out, Damian picked up the older woman’s bags and said, “I’ll just take your bags to the guest room.  Mrs. Abbey, where do you keep the spare sheets for the bed?”

“I’ll show you, Damian,” Lisa said to the teen, who was already halfway up the stairs.

Damian could hear Nana talking to Robin as he entered the room at the top of the stairs, “Polite and quite a looker, and a Wayne.  I know you don’t really care about the last one, but I think you hit the jackpot with him, dear.”

Lisa followed Damian into the guest room to find the room looking a little more disheveled than she thought it might.  “Did you sleep in here, Damian?”

Damian blushed deeply, and Lisa gasped.  Damian looked down and said sheepishly, “We didn’t want to keep you all awake again tonight.”

Lisa gave a soft smile, “As long as you two are being safe, and at least trying to be discreet, I’m okay with it.”

 _Is she trying to convince me, or herself,_ Damian thought.

Lisa got out a set of sheets from the linen closet and said, “I’ll do this if you want to get back to the party.”

Damian took the sheets and said, “I clean up my messes.  Besides, I need to move my things somewhere else.  Probably the bonus room.”

“Are you sure,” Lisa asked.

“I don’t think five girls and me will fit in Robin’s room, and I won’t make you have to explain that one to your mother.”

“I didn’t think of that,” Lisa said, “Will you be okay down there?”

Damian and Lisa finished changing the sheets, and Damian started packing his suitcase as he said, “It will be fine.  That looks like a comfortable couch in there.  You don’t need to worry about me.”

Lisa stopped Damian at the door, “That doesn’t mean that I don’t worry about you.  You’re not a people person, are you?”

Damian shook his head, “I can survive a party, especially one for Robin.  But, no, I’m not comfortable around groups, or new people.”

Lisa placed a hand on Damian’s shoulder, “You’re going to have to do your best.  Robin might not have talked to us a lot over the past few weeks, but the one thing she did say was how much she was looking forward to introducing you to her friends.”

Damian winked up at his girlfriend’s mother, “Just you watch.  I’ve been successfully doing things I’m uncomfortable with my whole life.  I forgot my toothbrush.”

Damian retrieved his toiletries from the bathroom, then headed downstairs.  Robin caught Damian in the hall and asked, “Where are you going?”

“The bonus room.  Not much room upstairs tonight.”

Robin followed Damian into the extra room at the back of the house, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that my friends are staying over.  You’re not mad, are you?”

Damian set his bag down behind the couch, so it couldn’t be seen by anyone just glancing in from the hall.  He then turned and kissed Robin deeply.  “Beautiful, I’ve spent the last twenty-four hours doing anything and everything I wanted with you.  I’m lucky to even be here.  Even sharing you with your friends and family, I still get to be with you.  All I want is to be with you, and I’m damn lucky that you want me to be with you.  I love you, but I will never stand in the way of you spending time with your friends and family.  I’m not mad at all.  You invited these people over to celebrate your birthday because they are special to you.  I’m just proud that I get to be counted among those special enough to be here with you today.  Just, you know, every now and then, hold my hand during the party.”

Robin slid her hand from Damian’s shoulder, down his arm, and into his hand.  “Lover, we’ll do far more than that.  I want you at my side for the whole party.”

The doorbell rang again, and Damian put on a society smile, “Are you ready for your party?”

Damian opened the front door and enjoyed the look of shock on the shorter, dark-haired girl’s face.  Damian smiled at the girl and said, “Hello.  Come on in.  You must be Connie.  Robin’s told me about you.”

The teen girl had a hard time taking her eyes off Damian as he closed the front door.  “H-Hi.  Yes, I-I’m Connie.  Are you…Damian?”

Damian smiled politely, “Yes, I’m Damian.  It’s nice to meet you.  Robin is in the living room.”

Robin met Connie in the hallway.  Damian overheard Connie whisper to Robin, “Damn, girl.  You weren’t kidding.  When are you going to start hitting that?”

Robin shot Damian a smirk as she leaned over and said, just loud enough for both teens to hear, “What do you mean, _when_ are we going to start?  We’ve been going for a while.”  Connie gasped, and Robin continued, “Twice last night, and once this afternoon, before the party.”

Damian gave a large smile as the girls left the entryway.  _Oh, yeah.  This is going to be fun._

Each subsequent arrival was equally stunned that, not only did Damian exist, but he was exactly as Robin had described him.  The girls quickly sank into the normal conversation patterns of teenage girls.  Damian listened politely as he stood next to Robin, but he wasn’t really able to keep up with most of the conversation.  The girls were talking mostly of people and classes at school, a topic Damian had no reference on, and nothing to contribute.

A sound caught Damian’s ear, and it was one that he thought sounded familiar.  Damian leaned over and kissed Robin on the cheek before whispering, “Be right back.”

Damian barely made it into the hallway before the conversation among the girls turned to questions about Damian.  Damian was certain the topic would suddenly change once he returned to the room.

Damian followed his ears down the hall, and sighed outside of the partially opened restroom door.  Gina was hunched over the bowl, shouting groceries.  Damian slipped into the restroom and closed the door quietly behind him.  Kneeling next to the young woman, Damian brushed her hair back and gently rested a hand on Gina’s shoulder.

Hoping she was done, Gina rested her head against the side of the vanity, and Damian asked, “Didn’t we do this already?”

“Shouldn’t you be plotting more boisterous love-making with my sister,” Gina retorted weakly.

Damian knew she was trying to joke, to lighten the mood.  “I can do two things at once.  Why, what kind of party did Robin plan?”  Gina didn’t answer, so Damian asked gently, “Are you going to be okay?”

Gina burped, then said, “Eventually.”

“You need to rest, Gina.  Robin will understand if you miss the party because you’re sick.  You made the trip; that means a lot.”

Gina sighed sadly as Damian helped her to the sink to clean up.  “Maybe you’re right.”

“Let me help you to your room.  You can lay down and rest without getting anyone else sick.”

Gina’s hand hovered over her stomach, “Whatever this stomach virus is, it’s winning.”

“No, it’s not,” Damian said, “You’re stronger than this.  You just need a little rest.  Come on, I’ll get you in bed, then let your mother know what’s going on.  Hopefully, I can do that without interrupting the party.  You’ll be okay.”

Gina gave a small smirk as they left the restroom, “You like getting Abbey women in bed, don’t you?”

Damian rolled his eyes, “You must be feeling better, to come up with a lame joke like that.”

As they climbed the stairs, Gina slipped a hand around Damian’s arm for balance.  She was surprised that Damian didn’t say anything about the contact.  She brought it up as they reached her room.

“I thought Robin told me you didn’t like being touched.”

Damian shrugged, “I’m getting better, but I don’t like strangers touching me.”

“You really are a good friend, Damian.”

Damian caught a subtext in the comment and made a guess to it’s meaning.  “Leah would have done the same thing for you, if she was here.  Why don’t you call her?  It might help you feel better.”

“I think I will,” Gina said as she laid down, “But, in a little while.”

Damian watched as Gina settled in under the covers, then said, “I’ll let your mother know what’s going on.”

“Thank you, Damian.  Can you turn the light off on your way out?”

The young woman was almost asleep before Damian left the room.  He turned out the light and whispered, “Rest well, Sister.”

Damian approached the living room silently.  The girls were still talking, but had moved to sit on the couches and chairs.  Damian stuck his head into the room, capturing the girl’s attention, “Can I get anyone anything while I’m up?  Snacks?  Drinks?”

The girls looked around at each other, and there was a general noise constituting an affirmative response.  Damian grinned and said, “Be right back.”

Damian stopped just outside of the living room and called back, “By the way, girls, I have really good hearing.”

Damian actually hadn’t heard a word the girls said while he was helping Gina, but the gasp and nervous laughter told him more than enough to put a real smile on his face.

Damian walked into the kitchen to find the three adults leaning against the counters and talking.  Mike looked over and gave the teen a large smile.  “Had enough already?”

Lisa and Nana looked over as Damian drew closer and spoke quietly, “I heard a noise while the girls were talking, and I checked it out.  Gina is sick again; she was throwing up in the restroom down the hall.”

“Sick,” Nana asked.

Lisa sighed, “Yeah.  She picked up a bug, but said it got worse since she’s been here.  I’ll go check on her.”

Damian stopped her before Lisa left the kitchen, “I helped her up to her room.  She’s resting now.  She really feels terrible, but she’s trying to hide it.”

Lisa smiled, “Thanks, Damian.  I’ll go see what’s up.”

Nana followed Lisa out of the kitchen, saying, “I’ll go with you.”

Damian turned to Mike, “The girls were asking about snacks.”

Mike nodded, “We’ve got stuff right here, ready to go.”

Damian looked over the trays and bowls and said, “I’ll take these if you want to bring the drinks.”

Mike smiled, “Whose running this party anyway?”

Damian took a deep breath, “Sorry, Mr. Abbey.  I just want this to go well for Robin.  She needs this to go well.”

Mike took a couple steps closer to Damian, “She needs this to go well, or you need it to go well.  I passed the living room a couple minutes ago.  The girls are having fun.  There’s no need to be nervous, Damian.”

Damian’s shoulders slumped a few inches.  “It’s that obvious?  I’m sorry.  I just keep thinking, did any of those girls send one of those hateful comments?  Are they just looking for more to use against her?  I hate what happened, Mr. Abbey.”

Mike pulled Damian into a gentle hug, “Damian, relax.  We’re all sick over what happened, but I’ve met all these girls before.  I wouldn’t allow them into my house if I thought for a second that any of them would have a part in hurting Robin.  You love Robin, but you shouldn’t be the one worrying about that, and you definitely shouldn’t be worrying about it now.  You have a far scarier task in front of you.  You need to go into that living room and face the horror of high school girls.  Robin will love you for putting up with her friends.”

“Thanks, Mr. Abbey,” Damian said softly before grabbing an armful of bowls and plates.

Damian walked back into the living room after pasting a smile on his face, and stood next to the coffee table.

“Okay, we have stuffed caper, crab puffs, caviar, pate, fromage, fois gras…” He trailed off at the disbelieving looks of the girls.  “What?”

One of Robin’s friends, Janelle, turned to Robin and asked, “Just what kind of party is this?”

Robin looked up expectantly, “Damian?”

The lone male in the room hesitated for a second before smirking, “Okay, we have chips, pretzels, popcorn, a veggie tray, and cheese and crackers.  You should have seen the looks on your faces, though.”

Damian set the snacks down and started filling a plate.  Another girl, Michele, cleared her throat.  “Just because you brought them in doesn’t mean you get first dibs.”

Damian looked up in shock, “Oh, this isn’t for me.  This is Robin’s birthday party.  She doesn’t have to lift a finger for anything while I’m here, unless she wants to.”

There was a barely contained round of ‘awws’ as Damian took the plate to Robin, who was sitting on the couch.  He handed the plate over and sat next to her while Mike said, “Drinks are over here.  The pizzas will be here in half an hour, forty-five minutes.”

“We’re going to start the movie in a minute, Dad,” Robin said.

The girls were filling their plates as Damian asked, “Do you need anything else?”

Robin looked around, then said, “Yes, three things.  A root beer, a kiss, and for you to sit next to me and cuddle while we watch Frozen.”

Damian started to lean in with a smile when Robin leaned back and said, “In that order.”

“Picky, picky,” Damian said, getting up to get drinks.  He returned with a root beer for Robin and a bottle of water for himself.  Damian sat down and asked, “How much of a kiss did you want?”

“I’ll tell you when to stop,” Robin said coyly.

Damian gave a crafty smile, “The last time you said that, we were kissing so long that we fell asleep.”

“What can I say,” Robin said softly, “I like your lips.”

Remembering that Robin’s friends were watching the couple, they stopped at a short, yet passionate, kiss.  Damian wrapped an arm around Robin’s shoulders, pulling her into his side.

“You’re not going to eat anything,” Robin asked.

Damian reached over, grabbed a piece of popcorn from Robin’s plate, and popped it into his mouth.  “Why do you think I got you a big plate of food?”

Damian cringed as he realized what he said.  He whispered in Robin’s ear, “I’m sorry.  What I meant was, I got you a big plate so we could share.  You’re doing great, I shouldn’t keep pointing it out.”

Robin picked up the remote and started the movie, “You care.  I should be grateful, not everyone would.”

The movie played, the pizzas arrived and were devoured, Connie spilled a soda, and Robin’s parents and grandmother settled in the living room to watch the rest of the movie.

As the movie played, Robin snuggled in tighter against Damian’s side, and the light touch on his chest brought a soft smile to his face.  “I love when you do that,” Damian breathed in Robin’s ear.

“I know,” Robin purred back.

Damian sighed contentedly, “As much as we both like it, could you not unbutton my shirt when your grandmother is staring at us?”

Robin glanced over and smiled at her grandmother, “She knows we’re dating.  She knows we’re serious about each other.”

“Knowing it and seeing it are two different things,” Damian whispered.

“Why does this bother you,” Robin asked quietly.

Damian shrugged, “I’ve never had a grandmother before.  I’ve never even been around one before.  I don’t know how to act around her.”

Robin smiled, “Just act like yourself, Lover.”

“Why do people always tell me that?  That’s exactly the opposite of how I should be acting.”

“Then, act how you’re acting now,” Robin encouraged.

“Nervous?”

“Polite.”

Damian took a deep breath, “I can do that.”

Robin slipped her fingers out of Damian’s shirt and snuggled in even tighter under his arm, “Good.  Now, watch the movie.”

The credits rolled, and Mr. Abbey was reluctant to move the party along.  He, along with the rest of the guests, stared at Robin with a soft smile.  The girl had fallen asleep, with her head on Damian’s shoulder and her arms wrapped tightly around his chest.  Damian knew they were being watched, but he was just as loathe to do anything but stare at Robin.

Lisa whispered to the guests, “Come on, girls.  Why don’t we go get the presents?”

The women left the living room.  Mike went to follow, but stopped behind the couch and gripped Damian’s shoulder, “Son, I don’t know what power you hold over my daughter, but I approve.”

Damian gave an honest smile and said, “Remember that in a couple years, when I’ll have a very important question to ask you.”

Robin yawned and stretched as she woke up a couple minutes later.  She gave a contented smile as she snuggled back into Damian, “Mmm, my favorite pillow.”

Damian brushed a lock of hair out of Robin’s face, “My favorite blanket.”

“Where did everyone go?”

Damian smiled, “The movie was over.  You looked so comfortable, they didn’t want to disturb you.”

Robin’s fingers worked their way back in through the still-open button of Damian’s shirt, “So, we’re alone?”

Damian looked up as Robin’s friends walked back into the room, “Not anymore.”

“You look comfortable,” Michele said as she sat down in the living room again.

Robin smiled, “Extremely comfortable.”

Connie gave an almost predatory grin to the couple, “Can I be comfortable, too?  My boyfriend would never be able to cuddle like that, especially around my parents.”

Robin looked up at Damian, “Yeah, I got a good one.”

“So, how about it,” Connie asked, “How much to borrow him for a while?”

Kristen spoke up, “Can I get in on that, too?”

Robin smirked, “I’ll think about it.  He might be worth more than your monthly allowance, though.”

The girls giggled, but Damian had stilled.  He desperately hoped Robin was joking, but his past history of being used and abandoned was flashing through his brain.

“Excuse me,” Damian said softly as he got up and left the room.

Connie’s jaw dropped as Damian left the living room, “Did he not realize we were just joking?”

Robin gave a large sigh, “Probably not.  Damian’s not used to things like this.  First of all, he lives in a house of all boys.  He’s also the youngest, by seven or eight years.  He doesn’t really have friends his own age.”

“Doesn’t he go to school,” Janelle asked.

Robin shook her head, “Damian is, like, a frickin’ genius.  He graduated high school last year.  He’s in college, but he’s taking online classes.  He doesn’t go to campus.  He was homeschooled for most of high school, too.”

Michele said, “That reaction seemed like more than just not being used to being around us.”

Robin sighed again, “He’s really nervous.  He doesn’t want to do anything that he thinks might upset any of us.  Despite how much I love him, he’s still very insecure.”

Michele continued, “He hides it well.”

 _I don’t know if I should tell them this, but I think they’ll understand._   “The person you’re seeing isn’t the real Damian.”

The girls were confused at that admission.  “What do you mean,” Connie asked, “Did you hire an actor to impersonate your boyfriend?”

Robin shook her head, “No, that’s him, but it’s not _him_.  You didn’t hear this from me, and none of you will ever mention anything about this in front of him, but Damian’s had a hard life.  He’s been hurt a lot.  What you’re seeing today is a mask he puts on when he’s not comfortable.  I’ve seen it a couple times, and I hoped I wouldn’t see it today.  Damian doesn’t do well in groups, or around new people.  Frankly, the only reason he didn’t walk out earlier is because he’s trying to put on a good face in front of my friends.  Stay here, I’ll go talk to him.  Remember, no mention of anything when he comes back.”

_Meanwhile…_

“Answer your phone, Dick,” Damian grumbled, pacing around the backyard.

“Damian?  What’s going on?  You’re supposed to be at a party.  I just have a few minutes; Bruce and I are about to go out.  What’s up?”

Damian sighed roughly, “Talk me down, Dick.  I need help here.”

Damian could hear Dick’s smile, “Teenage girls getting to be too much for you?  How bad can it be?”

Damian stopped pacing, “Two of her friends asked if they could rent me.”

Dick laughed, “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Robin didn’t say no.  She was negotiating a price.”

Dick said seriously, “It had to be a joke, Damian.  Do you honestly think that Robin would want you with someone else?”

“I hope not,” Damian said softly, “I never thought my mother would put me in a position to be sold, either.”

Dick sighed, “Robin is in no way like Talia.  That’s why you love her.”

“I don’t like being used,” Damian said.

“What can I do for you, Damian,” Dick asked.

“I don’t know,” Damian sighed, “I didn’t want to overreact.  I don’t want to ruin Robin’s party.  I walked outside to get some air, but it didn’t help.  I wasn’t calming down.  The next thing I know, I’m calling you.”

Dick nodded slowly, “Okay, Damian.  Close your eyes.”

“Fine, then what?”

“I said close them,” Dick said with a smile.

“How did…never mind, they’re closed.”

Dick said, “Face north.”

Damian turned a quarter circle to his right, “Why?”

“Just do it.”

“Okay.”

“Now, breathe.  In through your nose, out through your mouth.  Slowly.”

Damian took a breath, but Dick said, “I said slowly.  Breathe deeply.”

Damian did, and Dick said, “Again.”

Damian complied.  “One more time,” Dick said.

Damian could feel the knot in his chest loosening.  Dick said, “Now, turn around and give Robin a hug.”

Damian opened his eyes to find Robin standing behind him, “How did you know?”

“It’s her birthday, and no matter what else she might get today, you are the gift she wanted most.  With what you just described, there is no way she wouldn’t follow you, to see what’s wrong.  You don’t need me for this.  I’ll talk to you later.”

“Wait…” but Dick had already hung up.

Damian’s eyes migrated to the ground as Robin approached.  “Sorry,” he murmured.

Robin hugged the younger teen tightly, “I would never sell you, Damian.  It was just a joke, and one that you should feel pretty good about.”

Damian looked at Robin strangely, “Being sold is a humiliating experience.  Being rented is worse.  Why would I feel good about being used and abandoned?”

Robin gasped, “Is that what you thought?  No, Damian.  You should feel good because none of their boyfriends can compare to you.  They are dating teenagers who act like boys.”

Damian looked confused, “Am I acting like a girl?”

Robin snickered, “No, you’re acting like a man.  It’s an attractive quality in a boyfriend.  I knew this would be hard for you.  I should have found a way to give you a couple more breaks.”

Damian sighed, “I thought I could make it all the way through.”

“Well, I should have realized how hard this was for you when you took a break after only twenty minutes with my friends.”

Damian looked at Robin strangely, “That wasn’t a break.  Okay, it was a break, but not the one you’re thinking.  I went and investigated a noise, and found Gina…not doing too well.”

“I wondered where she went,” Robin said.

“She was throwing up again.  I helped her up to her room to rest, then told your parents how she was feeling.”

Robin was shocked, “And you were able to hide that from me?”

“I didn’t want something disrupting your party, like I’m apparently doing now.”

Robin leaned in and kissed Damian.  She held the kiss until she felt Damian relax.  “Better?”

Damian nodded, “I tried to do what you said.  I tried to act like myself.  Unfortunately, this is me.”

Robin smiled up at Damian, “I don’t see anything unfortunate about that.  Think you can try it again?  We’re about to do presents.”

Damian took a deep breath and nodded, “Yeah.  After you, my princess.”

Robin flinched, and Damian asked, “What?”

“That’s what my Dad calls me.”

“Sorry.  Just thought I’d try something new.  I can always stick with ‘Beautiful’.  It’s a better description of you, anyway.”

The couple walked back into the house, and were stopped by Mr. Abbey, “Everything alright?”

Damian nodded, “I’m just not used to this kind of setting.”

Robin spoke up, “He’s doing great.  Damian just needed to clear his head.”

Mike eyed the teens, “You tell me if you need to clear your head again.  I can make it look a little more natural than just walking out of the party in the middle of a conversation.”

“Thanks, Daddy,” Robin said.  Damian gave a smile and a nod.

Damian and Robin walked back into the living room, and all conversation stopped.

 _Yeah, I should have expected something like this._   Damian gave a small smile, “Sorry about that.  Just needed some air.”

Connie looked guiltily at Damian, “I’m sorry.  I thought you knew that I was kidding.”

“I’m…a little off today.  Honestly, I should have realized you weren’t serious.  I mean, who would want to buy me?”

Connie, Kristen, Michele, and Janelle all raised their hands.  Damian’s eyes widened, “Oh.”

“He’s not for sale, girls,” Robin said, taking Damian’s hand, “He’s all mine.”

Connie spoke up again, “If there’s anything we can do to help you, just let us know.”

Damian turned to Robin and asked, “What did you tell them, Robin?”

Robin looked a bit uncomfortable, “Just that you’ve had a hard life, and you’re not used to things like today.”

Damian took a deep breath, “Well, that’s true, and you _are_ helping me, Connie.  Just putting up with me is helpful.  But, we’re not here for my latest therapy session.  I believe it’s time Robin opened her presents.”

The couple took their spot on the couch again, and Lisa gave an approving nod and smile to Damian as she brought the first present over.

“Who is this one from,” Robin asked, holding up the box.

Connie smiled, “That one’s from me.  Hope you like it.”

Robin ripped into the packaging and pulled out a cream-colored sweater.  “Oh!  What a nice sweater.  It’s beautiful, thank you.  I’ve never seen one like this.”

Janelle looked back and forth between the sweater and Connie before saying, “Well, I have.”

“Really?  Where did you…oh.”

Robin looked up to see Janelle holding out another wrapped box.  Robin opened it to find the same sweater, this one in pale blue.  With a smirk on her face, Robin said, “Oh!  What a nice sweater.  It’s beautiful, thank you.  I’ve never seen one like this.”

“If you both went for it, it must be a good one,” Mike said from the back of the room.

“At least you went for two different colors,” Damian pointed out.

“Yeah, there’s that,” Connie said.

Damian smiled, “Don’t feel bad, Connie.  My brothers did the same thing to me last Christmas,” Damian pointed to his shirt, “I have three copies of this same shirt.  You two went for different colors, my brothers didn’t.”

“Is that true,” Robin asked, not knowing if Damian was just trying to make her friends feel better.

Damian pulled out his phone and showed the group a picture of him holding three copies of the same shirt.  The girls giggled, starting to feel better about their matching purchases.

Lisa smiled as she handed over the next box.  Nana spoke up, “That one’s from me, dear.  You’re always saying you get too cold up here.”

Robin’s eyes widened as she opened the box.  She showed it to Damian, and it was all he could do to contain his gasp.

Nana smiled, “Just a little reminder of home, Robin.”

Robin pulled a hooded sweatshirt out of the box, and could see her parents biting their lips at the present.  The sweatshirt was silk-screened to look like the current Robin, the Boy Wonder’s, uniform.  The hood even had a green eye mask sewn on it.

Mike couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Don’t you have one like that, Damian?”

Damian and Robin positively glared at the man, but Damian said, “Mine is a little different.”

Nana was oblivious to what was going on when she said, “Have you ever told your friends about meeting Batman and Robin?”

“Who are Batman and Robin,” all four girls asked at the same time.

“I really don’t like telling that story, Gramma,” Robin said softly.

“Why don’t you tell it, Damian,” Kristen said, “You must have heard this one before.”

Damian was having a hard time breathing, much less talking, “It’s not exactly my favorite story, either.”  Damian turned to Robin and asked, “Are you okay with it?”

Robin nodded, having just as hard a time talking as Damian.

Damian sighed, “Okay.  The first thing you need to know is that there is a lot of crime in Gotham City.  A lot.  Batman is a local crime fighter.  Have you all heard of the Justice League?” The four girls nodded, raptly paying attention to story time.  “He’s a member of that, too.  Robin is Batman’s partner, and this sweatshirt looks like what Robin, not this Robin,” Damian pointed at his girlfriend, “The other Robin, wears.  No one knows who he is, or why he does it, but he’s kind of like the city’s guardian angel.”

Damian had to take a couple deep breaths before he could continue.  His voice was a little weaker when he said, “Before Robin moved here, she and her sister were kidnapped.”  The girls in the room all gasped, not knowing this about their friend.  “They wanted to extort money from Mr. Abbey’s oil company, and held the girls for ransom.  I don’t know how they got involved, but Batman and Robin saved the girls.  I was so scared, until Robin called me and told me she had been rescued.”

Robin was sniffling hard before she got up and left the room.  Damian followed her, and heard Lisa tell the girls in the living room, “Just give them a minute.  Damian will be able to help her out.”

Robin stopped in the garage and turned to Damian.  Any trace of tears that Damian thought he might find on the girl’s face were not there.

Damian looked at his girlfriend strangely as she hugged him tightly.  “What…”

“You are really good at that, Damian,” Robin whispered.

Damian was still confused, “Apparently, so are you.  Why aren’t you crying?”

“I needed a way to get us out of that room,” Robin said with a smile.

Damian sighed, “They’re going to expect you to look like you’ve been crying.”

“I didn’t know how we were going to get out of that,” Robin said.

“I couldn’t breathe when I saw that sweatshirt,” Damian admitted.

“I know,” Robin said.

Damian eyed his girlfriend, “Wait, did you leave the room like that to get _me_ out of there?”

Robin gave a small smile, “It worked, didn’t it?”

Damian hugged the girl, “I think I’ve been a bad influence on you.  Were you this devious before we met?”

Before Robin could answer, Mike walked into the garage, “There you two are.  Is everything alright?  Are you two coming back?”

“It was just a little unexpected to see that sweatshirt,” Damian said, “We’ll be back in a minute.”

Mike nodded.  “You should wear it for a bit, Damian,” he said with a smile.

“That’s probably not a good idea,” Damian said.  He then looked back at Robin, “Do I even need to mention that you can’t tell your grandmother who Robin actually is?”

Robin asked, “We can’t?”

Damian shook his head, “She still lives in Gotham City.”

“Who is she going to tell,” Mike asked.

“If I knew the answer to that question, I wouldn’t have to insist on absolute secrecy.”

Mike nodded, “Okay.  Hey, if you hadn’t had to save the girls, would _we_ know?”

“Probably not,” Damian said.

“You would have kept it from me,” Robin asked, shocked.

Damian took both of the girl’s hands, “I never liked lying to you, but this secret is bigger than all of us.  We should probably get back to your party.”

“I guess you’re right,” Robin sighed.

Robin turned to leave the garage.  Damian followed her and held out a hand.  Robin took it gently.  Damian stopped the girl and held up their entwined hands, so they both could see them.

“This is all we need,” Damian said softly.

“I like the way you think,” Robin said just as softly, a small smile coming back to her face.

The couple returned to the living room, and Robin said, “Sorry about that.  Thank you for the sweatshirt, Gramma.  I really do like it.  I just don’t like being reminded of being kidnapped.  That was really scary.”

Mike mouthed ‘she’s fine’ to Lisa, who picked up another gift, “Do you want to continue?”

Robin smiled and nodded, “Bring it on, I’m ready.”

Damian snickered as he got another bottle of water for himself and another root beer for Robin.

Robin took the gift and read the tag.  “Oh, this one is from Gina.  I don’t want to open this one yet.  I want to wait on this one until she’s feeling better, and then we can open it together.”

Lisa smiled, “I think she’ll like that.”

Lisa handed over another box, and Kristen spoke up, “That one’s from me.”

“Another sweater,” Connie asked.

The room giggled as Robin tore into the paper.

“Oh, how cute!”

Robin pulled out a pale pink, spaghetti-strapped, silk top, and matching silk pajama bottoms.

“I can’t wait to see you in that,” Damian whispered in Robin’s ear.  Robin blushed as Damian turned to Kristen, “Kristen, I don’t think you have a grasp on this whole gift-giving idea.  This is _Robin’s_ birthday.  You were supposed to get a present for her, not for me.”

Kristen and Connie were laughing, while Michele and Janelle were staring wide-eyed at Robin’s parents, wondering how the comment would be taken by the adults.  Mike and Lisa had just rolled their eyes, but there was no comment made.

Robin elbowed Damian as she said, “Thank you, Kristen.  I love it.”

After realizing that Robin’s parents were not going to get mad at the comment, Janelle was having a hard time not laughing.

“What,” Robin asked.

“I’m sorry.  I can’t get the image of Damian wearing your pink pajamas out of my mind,” the girl said.

Robin thought for a second, a slow, evil smile crossing her face, “I’ll send you a picture.  I’m pretty good at talking him into things.  I think I can make that happen.”

All eyes turned to Damian, who just shrugged, as Lisa handed over a small box.

Nana said, “That one’s from me, too.”

Hiding her nerves after her grandmother’s last gift, Robin pulled the top of the box off and gasped.  “Gramma, it’s beautiful.”

Robin pulled out a thin gold necklace, with a small diamond pendant.  Nana smiled, “I wore that on my wedding day, and I have been blessed with long life, great children, and wonderful grandchildren.  Hopefully, it can do the same for you.”

Damian took the necklace and gently fastened it around Robin’s neck.  Robin looked up, “Gramma, this is so special, but shouldn’t this go to Mom, or Gina?”

Nana shook her head, “I’m the youngest of my sisters, so I want it to go to the youngest of my granddaughters.  You are also the most likely to get married next.”

Michele looked over at the couple with a strange look on her face.  “Why isn’t Damian embarrassed at that comment?”

“Because,” Robin said, “If we were eighteen, we would already be married.  I think Damian is looking forward to that more than I am.”

The girls smiled as Damian said, “I already asked once.  I’ll keep asking until the answer is yes, instead of not yet.”

The girls gasped at the unexpected answer to their question as Lisa brought over a flat package.  Michele said, “I think you’ll like that.  Remember when I told you about my Uncle in New York?”

Robin opened the gift and pulled out a book, “The actor?  I remember.”  Robin gasped as she saw the Hamilton program, “I love Hamilton.  I listen to that soundtrack at least once a week.”

Michele smiled, “My uncle is an extra in the New York cast.  He got the whole cast to sign that program for you.”

Robin was almost speechless as she read the names, “I’ll have to get this framed.  This is amazing, thank you.”

“Just a couple more left,” Lisa said, handing over a box with a card.

Robin took them with a smile and said, “Knowing how my parents like to go last, this must be from you, Damian.”

Damian gave a smile, “The card is from Father.  Before you ask, I didn’t know he was going to do anything for your birthday until I got here.”

Mike laughed with a snort, “A birthday gift from Bruce Wayne?  You must have done something right, Robin.”

“I’ll say she did,” Damian couldn’t stop himself from saying.  The girls giggled, and Damian looked confused, “What?”

“I’ll explain it later,” Robin said, opening the envelope.

Robin read the card, with Damian glancing over her shoulder.  “Once again, people are getting me gifts on your birthday.”

“What is it,” Lisa asked.

Robin held up a second envelope, “A plane ticket.”

“Just what Damian always wanted,” Mike said with a smile.

Robin read the ticket, “This really must be for your birthday, Damian.  The flight date is scheduled for October.”

Damian’s eyes widened, “Remind me to give Father a big hug when I get home.”

Mike spoke seriously, “We’ll talk about that later.  That’s during school, honey.”

Robin looked like she wanted to cry, but said, “Okay, Dad.  The rest of this must be from you, then, Damian?”

Damian nodded eagerly as Robin ripped into the paper.  Robin hitched to a confused stop as she pulled a t-shirt out of the box.  _What is this?_

The shirt showed a skyline and had the caption ‘Someone in Gotham City loves me’ under the picture.

“Um, wow, Damian.”

“That really is a true caption, you know.”

“Yes, I know,” Robin said, her tone falling as she tried to figure out the gift.

Damian smiled widely, “It’s green.  It complements your eyes.”

The forest green of the shirt really did nothing for the jade green of Robin’s eyes.

Janelle leaned forward, trying to look on the other side of the coffee table, “What’s that?  Robin, something fell out of the shirt when you unfolded it.”

Robin looked at the floor and found a gray box lying next to her foot.  She looked over to see that Damian’s grin had taken on a smug quality, one she knew he got when he was joking around.

Slowly, Robin picked up the box and flipped open the lid.  She immediately gasped, her eyes widened dramatically, and she dropped the box as she flung her arms around Damian’s neck.

“OH MY GOD!  I love you, Damian.  I love them, and I love you.”

“And you thought I would just get you that shirt for your birthday,” Damian whispered in Robin’s ear.

“What is it,” Lisa asked from the back of the room.

Connie picked up the box and gasped, “Diamond earrings!”

Michele took the box and asked, “Oh my god.  Are those _real_?”

Kristen said, “Let me see.  My Dad is a jeweler.  He taught me how to tell if they’re real or not.”

Kristen took one look at the earrings and said softly, “Oh my.”

Robin whipped around, “What?  What’s wrong with them?”

Kristen shook her head numbly, “There has never been anything this nice in my Dad’s store.”

“I told you I would never buy you fakes,” Damian said softly.

Robin took the box back, took out the earrings she had been wearing, and put in the new ones.  The diamonds hung just below her earlobes, like a natural extension of her ear.

Damian took a look and gave a soft smile.  “Perfect,” he whispered.

“I have to see how they look,” Robin said, jumping off the couch and running out of the room.

Janelle leaned over to Kristen and asked, “How much would something like that cost?”

Kristen was still stunned as she said, “Thousands.”

Mike looked over at Lisa and said, “Maybe we shouldn’t have saved our gift for last.”

Robin walked back into the room and sat in Damian’s lap.  “Have I told you that you’re incredible?”

“Not since last night,” Damian breathed in Robin’s ear.

The girl blushed deeply as Lisa walked over with a small box, “Last one.”

Robin’s smile was unkillable as she opened the box with a deep gasp, “You didn’t.”

“We did,” Mike said with a smile.

Robin pulled a car key out of the box with a shaky hand, then ran to the front door.  The party followed her, and found Robin hugging a baby blue Ford Edge SUV.

“Oh my god, Daddy!  I thought you were shopping for mom when we went looking at cars.”

“I’ll get the next one,” Lisa said.

Damian was standing back, next to Lisa and Nana.  He asked Lisa, “Does Robin even have a license yet?”

Lisa smiled, “She’s taking her driver’s test next month.”

Robin was adjusting her seat and mirrors as all four girls piled into the backseat.  Robin asked Mike if they could take a short test drive, and the overloaded vehicle pulled out of the driveway.

Back in the house, Damian was picking up torn wrapping paper from the floor as Lisa said, “Didn’t you want to go with them?”

Damian smiled, “There were too many people in the car as it is.”

“That’s not what I asked, though.”

Damian shrugged, “I like knowing that Robin has such good friends.  It makes it a lot easier to be away from her.  Frankly, today has been a little overwhelming for me.  I need a little space and air.”

“Hey, where is everybody?”

Damian and Lisa looked to the door as Gina walked into the living room.  She still looked a little out of it, but looked better than she had when Damian had put her to bed.

Lisa walked over and hugged her daughter, “They went to test drive Robin’s birthday present.  You look better.”

“I feel better,” Gina said weakly, “Not completely better, but a little better.”

Lisa sighed, “I think your Dad and I are going to postpone your return flight until you’re better.”

Gina pouted, “You mean I don’t get to fly first class with Damian on the way back?”

Lisa looked at Damian, who smiled, “Father bought me two tickets.  I decided to share.  Are you more disappointed about the ‘first class’ part, or the ‘with Damian’ part?”

Gina smiled, “There is no good way to answer that question.”

Damian smirked, “Sure there is.”

Gina looked around, “I see I missed the presents.”

“That’s one way to get around answering my question,” Damian said softly.

Gina gave a smirk, “Okay, Mr. Wayne, what did you get her?”

“Earrings,” Damian said, “I think she liked them.”

“I’ll say,” Lisa said, “She put them on as soon as she could pick her jaw up off the floor.”

“What did she think of my present,” Gina asked.

“She didn’t open it,” Lisa said.  “She wanted to wait until you were around, to open it with you.”

“Aww.  I knew I loved her.”

The front door opened, and Robin’s friends all walked back into the house.

Michele spoke, “Damian, your presence is demanded in the front yard immediately.”

Connie nodded, “Yeah.  Robin is not happy that you didn’t force your way into the car.”

Damian regarded the girls, “Robin is not happy?  Well, we can’t have that.”

Damian walked out of the house, and Robin called out from the open driver’s window, “Get in this car, Mister!”

Damian smiled as he walked over and opened the door behind Robin.

Mike, who was sitting in the opposite seat, shook his head and said, “Uh-uh.  Up there.”

Damian walked around the car and got into the front passenger seat.  They sat there for a minute before Robin asked, “Why did you stay here?”

Damian shrugged, “The car was full.  I told you I wouldn’t get in the way of you being with your friends or family.”

Robin sighed, “I can see my friends anytime, Damian.  I don’t see you all the time.  I told you earlier that I wanted you at my side all day today.”

Damian reached across the center console and took Robin’s hand, “I want to spend as much time with you as possible, too.  This way, you’re made your obligation to your friends, and we can spend time together without you feeling like you’re ignoring them.”

Robin thought for a moment before saying, “Why didn’t I think of something like that?”

Damian winked as he put his seat belt on, “Don’t be so harsh on yourself.  I just thought of it.  I guess the real reason I didn’t get in the car is…I like your friends, but I wasn’t going to sit on one of them, and neither of us want one of them sitting in my lap.”

Robin flinched, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed the way Connie and Janelle have been looking at you, but I don’t like it.  You’re mine; they can’t have you.”

“Your wish is my command,” Damian said.

Robin smirked, “I’ll remember you said that.”

Mike cleared his throat from the back seat, “If you don’t mind, I really don’t want to hear this.  Are you going to give your boyfriend a ride or not?”

Robin and Damian looked at the man with matching wide eyes at the remark.

_Twenty Minutes Later…_

The second test drive ended with three smiling faces.  The sun had set by the time the trio returned to the living room, where Lisa stood in the middle of the room, holding the birthday cake.  The guests sang a spirited, if ear-shattering, rendition of Happy Birthday.

Robin blew out her candles and said, “That looks great, Mom.  I’ve been waiting for this all day.”

Lisa smiled, “Well, you all get comfortable.  I’ll go cut the cake and be back with slices for everyone.”

Lisa walked back to the kitchen as the girls started talking again.  Damian kissed Robin’s cheek and said, “I’ll be right back.”

“Are you okay,” Robin asked, worry lining her tone.

Damian winked, “I just need to use the bathroom, honest.”

Robin nodded as Damian left the room.

Walking back to the living room, Damian heard a clatter and a muted curse from the kitchen as he passed by.  Damian stuck his head in the door and asked, “Is everything alright?”

Lisa almost jumped as she heard the boy’s voice.  “Fine, Damian.  Everything’s fine.”

Lisa hissed, and Damian walked into the kitchen to find Lisa holding her thumb tightly over her palm as blood dripped onto the floor.

“That doesn’t look fine.  What happened?”

Lisa sighed, “The knife slipped while I was cutting the cake.  I cut my palm.”

Damian nodded as he moved Lisa to hold her hand over the sink, “Let me see.”

Lisa eyed Damian, but took her thumb off of the wound.  Damian took a look without touching it, then looked up at Lisa and said sympathetically, “Ouch.  Where’s your first aid kit?”

Lisa nodded, “Under the sink.  I think this might me too much for a band-aid.  I’ll have Mike take me to Urgent Care.  It’s right down the street.”

Damian pressed a paper towel to the wound, pulled out the first aid kit, and washed his hands.  “Nonsense.  I can take care of that in half the time it would take to get to the Urgent Care.  We don’t need to disrupt the party anymore than we already have.  Hold pressure on it.”

Damian looked over his supplies and nodded, “This will work fine.  It won’t be too comfortable for the next couple days, and it will leave a scar, but we don’t have to leave home for this.”

“Are you sure you can handle this, Damian?”

Damian smirked at his girlfriend’s mother, “Piece of cake.”

Lisa rolled her eyes, “Is that a comment on this job, or your price for services rendered?”

Damian shrugged, “Both, actually.  This is going to sting.”

Damian poured alcohol over the cut, then pressed a clean towel to the wound.

“Honey, is everything…oh god.”  Mike rushed to Lisa’s side, “Are you okay?”

Lisa winced, “Yeah, just clumsy.  Why don’t you take the cake in to the girls?  Maybe we can hide this for a little longer.”

Mike nodded and started picking up plates, “Can you handle this, Damian?”

“No problem,” the teen said.

Mike smirked, “I thought you were going to say ‘piece of cake’.”

“He already used that joke,” Lisa said.

Mike sighed, “And I missed it.  You don’t joke often Damian.  I hate missing it.”

Damian pulled the towel off of the wound and used a couple butterfly bandages to hold the wound closed.  He then brushed skin glue over the cut.

Damian was cleaning blood off of Lisa’s hand when she said, “I’ve noticed something that I think I find a little disturbing, Damian.”

Damian sighed, “I already told Robin she shouldn’t feel me up while her grandmother is watching.”

Lisa shook her head as Damian taped a square of gauze in place over the wound, “No, not that.  You are calmer taking care of a sliced-up hand than you are talking to Robin’s friends.”

Damian sighed as he made sure the gauze wasn’t going to fall off anytime soon, “I’ve been trained in first aid and emergency response.  I’ve been trained in how to handle life and death situations.  There’s no training for how to deal with teenage girls.  I still get nervous around Robin sometimes.  Robin times five…I’m trying.  I think you know I don’t trust easily or quickly.  I don’t know why Robin was an exception to that, but she was.  I’m a protector.  I want to make sure Robin is safe.  I know that’s not my job yet, but I take if very seriously.  Even so, living in a house full of men has not provided adequate experience for dealing with a room full of girls.”

Lisa smiled as she hugged Damian, “How many times have people told you to relax today?”

Damian nodded, “Too many, I’m sure.”

“Well, add one more to the list, and make sure to clean any blood off your hands before you see Robin.”

Damian put the first aid kit away under the sink and washed his hands, “Keep your hand dry and covered for the next day or two.  Change the bandage on Monday.  That should heal in a week or so.”

Lisa smiled, “Damian, you do so much for this family.  I don’t think we’re going to let you go home.”

Damian smiled widely, “Do you want to tell Father, or should I?”

Lisa laughed, “Grab a couple pieces of cake and let’s get back to the party.”

Damian and Lisa walked back into the living room to find everyone staring at them.

“What happened to just using the bathroom,” Robin said accusingly.

Damian hesitated, and Lisa spoke up, “Your clumsy mother happened.  It’s a good thing your boyfriend knows first aid.  I was going to have Mike take me to Urgent Care.”

Lisa showed her bandaged hand to the room, and the girls gasped.  Mike turned to Robin and said, “I told you he wasn’t trying to run away.”

Damian almost dropped his cake as he handed the other piece to Lisa, “You thought I was going to run away?”

Robin shrugged, “You disappeared for far longer than a bathroom break.”

Damian sat down next to Robin, “Your mother was bleeding; I wasn’t going to just walk by and do nothing.  That’s not me.”

Robin stared at Damian for a minute, then sprouted a soft smile, “Thanks.  There are a lot of things I wanted to do for my birthday.  A trip to Urgent Care was not one of them.”

They worked on the cake and Robin nudged Damian and asked, “What do you think of the cake?”

Damian nodded, “It’s good.  I like the hemoglobin-flavored frosting.”

Robin smiled widely, “You made a joke.  At least, I hope it was a joke.  Are you finally starting to get comfortable?”

Damian found all eyes around the room focused on him.  _I was,_ Damian thought, _until everyone started staring at me._

Damian focused on Robin, “Yeah.  I’m sorry it took so long.”

 _His defenses went up again.  Maybe I shouldn’t have asked that in front of everyone._   “No hurry,” Robin said, before mouthing ‘sorry’.

 _She noticed that the comfort level dropped.  She really does know me._   “I could go for another slice of cake, but that is probably asking too much.”

Lisa shook her head, “Go ahead, there’s plenty left.  You’re on your own for cutting it, though.”

Damian and Robin both got up, and Robin said, “Don’t worry.  Damian’s good with a knife.”

Damian stared at her with intentionally wide eyes for a second before turning back to the room.  “Anyone else want seconds?”

Damian cut two slices of cake, as no one else had asked for seconds.  Damian stopped before handing Robin her plate, and cut two small slices off of each of their larger slices.  Robin was about to ask what he was doing when she saw his smile.

_That’s his playful smile.  What is he thinking?_

Damian picked the small piece off of each of their plates and handed one to Robin.  He held the piece up, and Robin opened her mouth.  Damian popped the piece of cake in her mouth and Robin closed her lips on Damian’s fingers, licking crumbs and frosting off of them for far longer than necessary.

“Tasty,” Robin said softly.

She fed Damian slowly, and afterward, he replied, “You’re right, but you have some frosting on your cheek.”

Damian grabbed Robin’s hand as it rose to her cheek out of reflex.  He leaned in and kissed her deeply, making sure there was no trace of frosting on or in her mouth.  Robin returned the favor, and they separated breathlessly a minute later.

“That wasn’t my cheek,” Robin said softly.

“I’m saving that for later,” he replied.

“Why don’t you both save this for later,” Gina said from the kitchen doorway.

The couple jumped as they were caught.  Robin asked, “You like doing that, don’t you?”

Gina rolled her eyes, “At least you two had the presence of mind to keep your clothes on this time.  You have a roomful of guests, Robin, not to mention one more present to open.”

Robin gasped happily, “That’s right.  I still haven’t opened your present.  Let’s go.”

They returned to the living room to the furtive glances and barely contained snickers of the entire room.  Mike gave a large smile as he noticed the teens empty hands and asked knowingly, “Changed your mind on more cake?”

Damian and Robin hadn’t realized they left their slices on the kitchen counter.

Gina winked at her dad and said, “Damian was hoping for something a little sweeter.”

The couple blushed embarrassedly as the sat down and Robin opened her last present, the latest book by the sister’s favorite author.

“How did you get it autographed,” Robin asked.

Gina shrugged, “Barnes and Noble sells autographed editions of books every now and then.”

Robin asked, “Have you read this one yet?”

Gina smiled, “I just finished it last week.  You’re going to like it.”

Nana yawned and said, “Well, as fun as this day has been, I had a long flight this morning, and I’m not as young as I used to be.  I’m going to turn in for the night.  Good night, everyone.  Robin, can you walk your grandmother upstairs?”

Robin gave a warm smile, “Sure, Gramma.”

As the secondary attraction in the room, Connie turned to Damian and asked, “You’re still not comfortable around us, are you?”

Damian sighed, “It takes me longer to trust than just about anyone you will ever meet.  It’s not you, it’s just how I was raised.”

“How long,” Michele asked worriedly.

 _How much do I want to tell them, and how much do I want them to interrogate Robin later?_   “I met my Father for the first time four and a half years ago.  It took almost a year before I really trusted him.”

“What about your mom,” Connie asked.

Damian flinched involuntarily, and began slowly, “Robin told you I’ve been hurt a lot in the past, right?”

“Yeah,” Connie said slowly, hearing the tone in Damian’s voice and suddenly wishing she could go back in time and stop herself from asking her last question.

“She’s the one who hurt me,” Damian said softly.

The room was silent for a minute before Connie spoke again, “How bad are we talking?”

 _Enough of this._   “We aren’t talking,” Damian said defensively, before closing his eyes and taking a breath.  “Bad,” he said in a small voice.

Damian opened his eyes to find Connie walking towards him with her arms out.  Damian leaned away from the girl and asked, “What are you doing?”

Connie stopped, confused, “I was going to give you a hug.”

Damian shook his head slowly, “No, you weren’t.”

“Too soon,” the girl asked.

“Much,” Damian replied flatly.

After a moment of awkward silence, Mike said, “Well, girls, maybe it’s time we wrapped this up.  It’s eleven-thirty.”

The girls headed for the stairs after a round of good-nights.  Damian sat in the living room for a minute before needing to move.  Movement had always helped his thought process.  He would never know that was a trait he adopted from Dick.

Damian took a stack of plates to the kitchen and began washing dishes.  Several minutes later, Lisa walked into the kitchen.  “I put some blankets out in the bonus room for you, Damian.  You don’t need to wash those.”

“You can’t do it,” Damian said, not turning around, “not until your hand heals.  No sense in just leaving them out.”

“Thank you, Damian.  Are you sure you’re going to be alright down here alone?”

“I’ll be fine,” Damian said shortly, “I think I need some space right now.”

Lisa sighed, “Connie shouldn’t have pushed you like that.  She’s a nice girl, but she’s always been like that.”

Damian shrugged, “She can ask all the questions she wants.  She might not like the answers, though.  She’s curious about me, but I think her interest is a little more than friendly.  When she tried to touch me, though, that was too far.”

Lisa was wrapping up the leftover cake when Mike spoke, walking into the kitchen, “You handled it well, though.”

Damian sighed, “I hope I didn’t hurt her feelings.  The last thing I want is Robin getting upset because I was mean to her friend.”

“You weren’t mean to her, Damian,” Lisa said, “Connie has been like this since we’ve known her.  Her parents are psychiatrists.  It leads to a natural curiosity, and a need to try to improve situations.”

Mike stared at Damian’s back, trying to interpret the signs Damian was giving off, “This isn’t helping you, is it, Damian?  What do you need?”

Damian turned away from the sink, “I need to hit something, but my hands won’t like me if I do that again, and…I’m better than this.  I mean, I should be better than this.  I should be able to handle a little annoyance better than this.”

Lisa took a step closer, “Would a hug help?  I know you don’t like strangers touching you, and a hug is one of the things that started this, but…you don’t consider me a stranger, do you?”

Damian shrugged, “No, you definitely are not a stranger.  We can give it a try.”

Not expecting anything to change in his mind, Damian was surprised when he felt his frustration slowly leaking out of his body as he was held in the woman’s arms.  _Father was right.  There is something special about a mother.  A real mother.  It just makes me sad that I never had one of my own, and that the best I can do is to borrow Robin’s mother._

Damian took a step back after a minute, unable to quite meet Lisa’s eyes.  “Thanks,” he said softly.

“If that doesn’t work for you,” Mike said, “You can always give this a try.”

Damian turned and gave an involuntary snort of laughter as Mike held up Robin’s new Robin sweatshirt.  “Why not?”

Damian took the jacket, but started laughing as soon as he put one arm in it.

“What’s so funny,” Lisa asked.

Damian crammed himself into the sweatshirt before saying, “It’s too small.”

Lisa and Mike smiled at the sleeves of the jacket, which only came to mid forearm on the teen.  Damian flailed out of the jacket before saying, “I don’t know if that will even fit Robin.”

Damian handed the zippered sweatshirt back to Mike, his spirits starting to rise, “Thanks, you two.”

“Will you be alright down here,” Mike asked.

Damian nodded, “Yeah.  I’ll just go say goodnight to Robin, and…”

Damian trailed off as Robin walked into the kitchen, ignored her parents, and hugged Damian.

“I was just coming to see you.  What’s wrong, Robin?”

The girl asked, “Connie tried to hug you?”

“Unsuccessfully,” Damian said.

“I told them not to ask you about your past, and then they went and asked you.”

Damian shook his head, “That’s not how it started.  They were just wondering if I was still uncomfortable around them, which I am.  I, sort of, led them there.  Don’t be mad at them.  The only thing any of them did that I didn’t like was when Connie tried to hug me.  I’m not upset anymore.”

“But you _were_ upset,” Robin stated.

Damian sighed, “I was.  I’m not now, though.  Your parents are really good at the whole ‘parenting’ thing.  Are you going to be alright, Robin?”

“As long as you are.”

Damian smiled, “I’ll be just fine.  Do you want me to walk you back to your room?”

Robin thought for a second, “The girls are changing and getting ready for bed.  I’m sure Connie and Janelle would like it if you came up…”

Damian interrupted, “But, you wouldn’t like it, so I’ll walk you back to the stairs and say good night to you there.”

After an extended goodnight kiss, and a few minutes spent changing and getting ready for bed, Damian pulled out his phone and called his Father.

Bruce groaned as he answered his phone, “Is this payback for yesterday, son?”

“What,” Damian asked, confused.

“Four in the morning.”

Damian winced, “Sorry, Father.  It’s midnight here.  The party just ended.”

“How did it go,” Bruce asked sleepily.

Damian thought for a second, “As well as can be expected.  It did prove that I’m not ready to try a party without our trademarked party personalities.”

“Dick told me about the price on your head.”

“It’s not my head they’re after,” Damian grumbled.

Bruce yawned, “Well, they’re gone now.  Shouldn’t you be giving Mike more reasons to text me, instead of talking to me?”

“They’re not gone,” Damian sighed, “Robin forgot to tell me that they were spending the night.”

Damian could have sworn that his Father was smiling as he said, “The guest room isn’t so bad.”

“I’m on the couch.”

That caught Bruce’s attention, “Is Mike mad about last night?”

“Robin’s grandmother arrived two days early,” Damian said.  “I put myself on the couch.”

Damian could hear Bruce’s smile, “Good boy.”

Damian looked around the bonus room, “There must be something wrong with this room, though.  Mister and Misses Abbey both asked me several times if I was going to be okay sleeping in here.”

“They’re just looking out for you,” Bruce said.

Damian nodded, “They’re good at that.  They’ve been really helpful in keeping me calm today.”

“So,” Bruce yawned, “Any other big calamities?”

“Let’s see.  Gina is sick, and missed most of the party either throwing up or sleeping.  Mrs. Abbey cut her hand open while cutting the cake, and I had to perform first aid.  Robin’s friends would all be very happy to steal me away from Robin.  And, apparently, I can’t be myself around strangers.”

Bruce sighed, “You’re working on it.  It’s a family trait, though.  You know how I act at parties.”

They were silent for a minute before Damian said, “Robin appreciated your present.  Mr. Abbey isn’t sure she will be able to use it, though.”

“Oh,” Bruce asked, “Why not?”

“You bought her a ticket for October.  She’ll be in school.”

Bruce shrugged, “We’ll work it out.  What did she think of your present?”

Damian cracked a smile, “She fell for the t-shirt.  It made the reveal of the earrings that much better.”

“I’m glad she liked them.”

“Me too,” Damian said.  “Father?”

“Yes son,” Bruce yawned.

“Go back to sleep, Father.  I’m sorry for waking you up.”

“You should get some sleep, too, Kiddo.  You’ve had a long day.”

It took Damian a second to get to the real reason behind his whole call, “I love you, Father.”

“Love you too, pal.”

“I’ll call again tomorrow.”

“Okay, son.  Good night.”

_Three Hours Later…_

Amorphous vapors began to coalesce into images in Damian’s mind, and his conscious mind knew instinctively that he wouldn’t like what was coming up next.  Fortunately, a barely heard sound snapped Damian back to consciousness.  He stared straight ahead with wide eyes, his mind still trying to figure out where he was, when he heard the noise again.

Damian quickly sat up to find Robin sitting on the arm of the couch.  Robin held her hands up, trying to calm the teen.

“It’s okay.  It’s me.  I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Damian exhaled heavily, “It’s okay.  You woke me up from a nightmare, so, thank you.”

The blanket had slipped down from Damian’s shoulders to pool at his waist, and Robin smiled at what she saw, “You actually brought real pajamas?”

Damian looked down at his black silk sleepwear and said, “Of course.  I didn’t plan on using them, but I brought them anyway.  Why?”

Robin shrugged, “I just figured you would sleep in a t-shirt and your boxers again.”

Damian rolled his eyes, “I didn’t think that would be a good idea with your friends here.  Also, with your grandmother here, I didn’t think that would be appropriate.  Isn’t it a little risky, sneaking down here?”

Robin shook her head as her friends trudged into the bonus room.

“What’s going on,” Damian asked.

Robin sighed, “We can’t sleep.  Gramma snores.  This is the only place in the house where you can’t hear her.”

Damian smiled, “How bad is it?”

“My parents closed their door.  My parents _never_ close their bedroom door.  They say it gets too hot in there when they do.  I think Gramma and Gina are the only ones getting any sleep up there, and Gina is only able to sleep through it because she took some cold medicine, and it knocked her out.”

Damian looked around as the girls were setting up their pillows and blankets, noticing that Robin was not carrying either item with a grin.  “You can sleep in here; I don’t mind.”

“I didn’t think you would,” Robin said as she moved to sit next to Damian.  He wrapped the blanket around Robin as Robin said, “We were going to turn on a movie.”

“Which one,” Damian asked.

“Snow White,” Robin said, “I’ll set the timer on the TV, because I’m sure we’ll be asleep before the movie is over.”

Robin set up the movie, then she and Damian laid down on the couch as Kristen said, “I love this movie.  Someday, my prince will come, too.”

“Mine, too,” said the other girls.

“Not mine,” Robin said, “He’s already here.”

Damian pulled Robin in tight to him, and made sure the only thing sticking out of the blanket was their heads.  Damian began moving strangely behind Robin, and she hissed nearly silently, “What are you doing?  My friends are two feet away, we can’t have sex here.”

“I don’t want to, not right now, at least.”

Damian pulled Robin’s shirt up under her arms, and she realized that Damian had been unbuttoning his shirt before wrapping his arms tightly around Robin.  His chest pressed against her back as he whispered, “I want to feel your heart beating with mine.  I want to feel you breathing with me.”

Robin gasped at the breathed statement as their bodies melted together.  Robin slipped her arms out of the shirt, but kept it around her neck as Damian draped his shirt over the both of them under the blanket.  The couple ended up being the first of the group to fall asleep, within five minutes of laying down.

_Sunday…_

It was late morning when Robin and Damian woke up on the bonus room couch.  There was a quick scramble to reassemble their pajamas into something presentable.  Fortunately, the blanket had not moved during the night.

“Mmm.  Good morning, Lover.”

“Yes, it is, Beautiful.”

“Do you want to get breakfast,” Robin asked.

Damian nodded slightly, “Yes, I…”  Damian trailed off, his eyes wide, “I’ll meet you there.  I’m going to get dressed first.”

Robin rolled over in his arms to face Damian.  “You can come to breakfast in your pajamas.  It’s okay.”

Damian gently moved his hips to brush against Robin’s, and she got the picture.

Damian whispered, “I’m not wearing underwear.”

Robin smiled as she pressed her hips against Damian’s again, “Okay.  This might be the only time ever where I encourage you to get dressed.  Hurry up, though.”

“You might want to say that a little more quietly,” Gina said from the door.

“Good morning, Gina,” Robin said, “Are you feeling better?”

“Yes, lots,” Gina said, sitting on the edge of the couch.  She flashed a knowing smile and asked, “So, why are you encouraging Damian to get dressed?”

Damian rolled his eyes and grumbled, “Because, sometimes, it really is not fun being a teenage boy in the morning.”

“I figured as much,” Gina said, her smile growing.

Damian sighed, “Is the bathroom open?”

“Yes,” Gina said, knowing you could only joke with Damian so far before he got upset or took it as a personal attack.

“Thanks.  I’ll see you at breakfast.”

Robin’s friends left by noon, and unsurprising to anyone in the house, Damian and Robin disappeared until just before dinner.  The couple took a long walk around the neighborhood, with stops for ice cream, browsing through a Walmart (Damian had never been in a Walmart before), and two hours sitting on a bench in a park, holding hands and kissing.

As Robin’s grandmother had closed the guest room door, and it was his last night in town, Damian was allowed back in Robin’s room for the night.  Remembering Mike’s warning, Damian had them avoid the bed for their last time together before they had to get some sleep.  Robin had to go to school in the morning, and Damian had a flight to catch.

_Monday Morning…_

Mike Abbey walked into Robin’s room on Monday Morning, and wondered how his daughter was able to breathe.  Robin was held tightly in Damian’s arms, her face pressed into Damian’s neck.

“Let’s go, you two.  It’s time to get up.”

The expected groan and grumble didn’t disappoint, but the teens dragged themselves out of bed as soon as Mike closed the door.  They were a little less than appropriately dressed at the moment.

Breakfast was a silent, somber event.  Both teens ate quickly and left the dining room.  Damian still had to pack his suitcase.  The chore was completed quickly, the bag was set by the door, and the teens sat on the couch to cuddle for a minute, while they still could.  Little did the couple know that Mike had actually woken them early, to give Damian and Robin a few extra minutes together.

The trip to take Robin to school was expectedly quiet.  Unlike many of their final car rides, this time it was Damian sitting in the middle seat, clinging to Robin.

The car turned a corner, and Robin gasped.  Damian looked up and could see Robin’s school an uncomfortably close distance away.

Robin sniffled and her breath hitched.  Damian took a breath and spoke quietly, “What do we always say at times like this?  No tears.  No sadness.  I don’t want to remember you crying anymore than you want to remember me crying.  There’s no need for sadness, because our time apart won’t last forever.  The way we’ve been going this year, we’ll see each other before we know it.  We’ve got so much to look forward to now, that there’s no time for tears.  Remember, keep reporting those posts until they’re gone.  Whenever you need me, I’m just a phone call away, or a text, or a Skype.  When you’re alone and lonely, I expect a call.  When you want to hear my voice, you know what to do.  Seventeen minutes a week is not enough for me.  I want calls, and pictures.  Plenty of pictures.  You know I’ll be doing the same.”

Damian leaned in and kissed Robin’s ear, just above her new earring, “You’re the best thing that could have happened to me, Robin.  Don’t ever forget that.”

Robin pasted a smile on her face, and even though they both knew it was fake, at least she was trying.  “You will be careful out there.  No new injuries.  No new scars.  No unnecessary risks.  You will keep seeing your therapist, and you will follow her advice.  You will call me when you’re feeling frustrated, or feeling misunderstood, or you’re upset and can’t figure it out on your own.  You will follow your Dad’s rules, and be nice to your brothers.  And, call Gina every so often, when you’re not calling or texting or Skyping me, that is.  You’re more important than you know, and not just to me.”

It had become a ritual for the couple to tell each other things they should already know.  It was just their way of reminding each other of how much they loved each other.

The couple kissed passionately until the first bell rang.  They stared into each other’s eyes and both said softly, “No goodbyes, because goodbye is forever, and we’re not done yet.”

It had become their mantra, and somehow, it actually helped them when they were separating.  Damian kissed Robin shortly one more time before saying, “Don’t be late for your class.”

Barely holding tears back, Robin got out of the car.  Damian didn’t follow her out, because they both knew that, if he did, they would never be able to be separated.  Robin nodded at Damian’s forced smile and headed into the school building.

Damian waited until Robin was out of sight before closing the car door.  He sniffled mightily and mumbled, “Damn.”

Touched by what he had seen and heard, Mike said softly, “Damian?”

His breath was hitching hard as Damian wiped uselessly at his eyes.  “Damn it.  Every god damn time.”

“What is it, son?”

Damian gave a wet sigh, “I can’t leave your daughter without turning into…this.  I hate this, and what makes it worse is knowing that Robin is inside that school building, doing the same damn thing right now.  She isn’t going to her first period class.  She is either in the nurse’s office or the bathroom, crying at least as much as I am, if not more.”

Mike sighed, hating the truth he heard in Damian’s voice, “Is there anything I can do for you, Damian?”

Damian sniffled mightily, “Drive, Mr. Abbey.  The longer we sit here, the more I’m tempted to jump out of this car and find her.”

Damian stared at his hands for the entire seven hours of his flight.  The only thing he requested from the flight attendant was to be left alone.  He wasn’t rude about it, he just didn’t have the patience or stamina to deal with people right now.  On his way out of the plane, Damian apologized to the flight crew for his behavior, confusing the crew.  They had no complaints about the teen.

One thing Damian hadn’t bothered to ask before he left home was who would be picking him up when her returned home, so Damian was pleasantly surprised to find Bruce waiting for him when he left the baggage claim.

“I expected Alfred,” Damian said as he buried his face in Bruce’s chest.

Bruce smiled as he embraced the boy, “I missed you too, Kiddo.”

As they left the airport, Bruce said, “I’ve got just enough time to take you home before I have to get back for a meeting.”

Damian looked over and asked, “The Tower is closer.  Can’t I stay with you, Father?  I won’t get in the way.”

Bruce gave a warm smile and said, “Are you sure?  I talked to Mike after you left Alaska, and he said you and Robin had a pretty rough morning, to top off your weekend.  I understand if you want to get some sleep, and a shower, and some time with Alfred.”

Damian sighed, “I want all of that, but I think, right now, I really want to be with you, Dad.”

The warm smile grew as Bruce headed for Wayne Tower.  He reached over and took his son’s hand gently.

“I was hoping you would say that.  Tell me about your weekend, son.”

 

**A/N:  Well, I was feeling a little sentimental, and this popped out.  Like always, longer than I thought it would be.  If you don’t like where I’m taking Damian’s and Robin’s relationship, I don’t really care.  This is my story.  Teenagers are going to be teenagers.**

**By the way, cyberbullying, and bullying in general, are very real.  In grad school, one of my projects was to help create an anti-bullying campaign.  I was amazed, and horrified, by the numbers I found in my research.  If this is happening to you, don’t stay silent about it.  Speak up.  It could literally save your life.  You are more important than some idiot on the internet, or someone who is putting you down to lift themselves up.  Remember, a bully only has the power that you give them, so take back the power.  Do it for yourself, because you are worth it.**

**Thanks for playing along.**


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